more than we can imagine...

i've been keeping a little secret...

2011-03-11T17:47:00.000-05:00

i am so glad to finally announce that we are expecting baby #5 in mid September!!

i am just plain terrible at keeping my own exciting "secrets". so i must confess that is why i have been pretty quiet on here as of lately! not to mention i have been quite sick and extremely tired!

now that the secret is out, i shouldn't have a problem posting more often! i will be back soon with more details!

recovering...

2011-02-15T10:40:00.001-05:00

just days after my last post, i was hit with the awful flu - not the throw up kind but the kind where i was achy, had chills, fever, cough, sore throat and congestion. it was down right awful. i felt like i was hit by a truck. i was down for nearly a week and one of those days i thought i might die. it was not fun at all. thankfully, it fell over a weekend so jamil was home and he was able to take care of the kids and the house. i was so out of it for many days and then spend many days recovering, my house and high hopes of organizing it fell apart. last week, i felt much better and began trying to get life back in order, i am still doing the same thing this week. i was done for one week and it is taking close to two weeks to get things back in shape.

i have been horrible about taking pictures or even capturing sweet moments - life has been a blur. and i can't believe it is mid february already. so i feel like i don't have much to write about.

this past weekend we did celebrate our church's five year anniversary. it was amazing. our creative department made documentary and it told the story of our church and God's favor on our church over the past five years. it was an excellent documentary, we have a truly genius team who puts videos together. if you are interested in hearing more about Elevation Church and how God continues to bless our church you can watch it here, but only for this week. you can also read more about it here and here. of course i have no pictures, even though we were all dressed up - i wore a dress and jamil wore a suit. but not one picture was taken. i really need to get better at that!

so, i'm off to do laundry, its one of those things that i just can not catch up on.

a different kind of month & organization...

2011-01-25T12:39:00.000-05:00

it certainly has been a strange start to the new year. i have not been able to get into my usual motivated mind set. and our schedule has been so strange and unpredictable. with our snow week - the kids were only in school on friday and it was a 2 hour delay, then starting the following week (last week) they had off of school on monday. mid week, joshua woke up in the middle of the night and he was sick. he threw up every hour for about five hours, so he missed a day of school. good thing is it hit quick and he felt better the next day. jamil and i were placing bets on who would get the stomach bug next. when you have four kids, these things usually spread like weeds. the week wrapped up, the weekend came and went and we thought we were in the clear. until last night - jordyn woke up around midnight throwing up. she only got sick that one time, unfortunately, she didn't make it out of her loft bed in time and we had a mess to clean up. so, she is home today and feeling better.

so, its been an unpredictable month and i have lots of things i want to accomplish and cross off of my list but i just haven't been able to get to them. my one big goal for this year is to get our house in shape, it has become very disorganized and messy. i do not operate under these conditions very well and it has gotten the best of me. we are maxed out on space in our house because of our large family and all of our stuff but also because we have a lot of clutter and things we really don't need. so in order to get some space back and feel more efficient i am going to be working on really organizing our home. i will be doing lots of research for organizing and space saving - if you have any great tips or suggestions, i would love to hear them!! this is a long overdue project and i am ready to get started as soon as things get back to "normal"

not one but three snow days...

2011-01-12T14:32:00.000-05:00

yes, i am sitting here just outside of charlotte, nc and we are on snow day number 3! how in the world can that be? over christmas, we had snow and lots of it which made a beautiful white christmas! and now just two weeks later we have even more! the kids are on their third day of no school. jamil was off for the first two days but headed back to work today. we are getting a little bit restless and down to the bare bones of food and supplies. and unfortunately yesterday and today the snow has not been fun to play in, it is mostly a sheet of ice on the top. the first day was so much fun though! with all of that being said, i think i am ready to get back to a normal schedule. i have enjoyed the family time but all good things must come to an end!

well, i am off to try to keep the kids busy and from killing each other!

here are a few pictures from our first big snow:

blogging again & highlights of twenty ten...

2011-01-04T13:33:00.001-05:00

hello!!!!! i know it has been a long long time! but im back and this time is for good!!!

after an unintended very long blog break, I am back to blogging and i am super excited about it! one of my new year goals is to continue my blogging. it is kind of awkward to return and try to figure out how to catch up on where i left off. so much has happened over the past ~~few~~ more than a few months that i want to share. but for now i will just post the highlights of this past year...

january:

we started off 2010 on a bit of a sad note for us, my sister, julie decided to move back to pennsylvania. we loved having her in charlotte for the 2 years she was here and we knew she would be greatly missed.

the year got off to a quick start with jaelyn on the move! she was walking and we realized

we officially have four kids on the go!

february:

we had a fun snow day!

and the month was full of LOVE!!! at our church we had LOVE week! we also had a fun time celebrating elevation's FOUR year anniversary and a very special 30th birthday celebration for our Pastor.

march:

we celebrated two more special birthdays this month!

jesiah turned 5 years old - and he had his first sleepover.

here he is with one of his very best friends, corbin.

and jamil turned 34 years old!

april:

we celebrated easter in a huge way. we were part of a big move of God when elevation held one huge worship experience at the bobcats stadium (time warner arena) in charlotte, nc

may:

my sister surprised us with a visit over mother's day weekend!!!

we took a trip to the columbia zoo and had a great day as a family!!

it was actually in april but i am leaving the photo here!

during the spring i started working on my certification process to become a birth doula.

in may, i was officially "hired" by the first couple who would later in the year have me share in their special day. they have become a very special family to me!

june:

we took a family beach trip to carolina beach.

and not only did i attend my first birth as a doula but i was at two! what special days they were for me!

july:

jordyn's 7th birthday

and i also had the honor of attending two more births this month! very blessed!!

august:

jordyn accepted Christ and decided to get baptized!!!

such a very special day!!!

and our sweet jesiah starts kindergarten, can not believe my baby boy started school!!

i attended three births this month!!! two of them were extra special!

the first was friends of ours, the schultzes, they welcomed sweet sweet baby boone!

the second was the the carsons, who i met earlier in the year and they had become very special friends.

above i am holding their sweet baby girl ana grace

and below bethany is holding my sweet baby girl!!

september:

with my doula ministry off to a very busy star,t i took the month off and

was able to go on a girlfriend's beach trip

and i celebrated my 35th birthday (ouch!)

october:

josh turns 10 years old

how in the world is it possible that i am a mom to a ten year old! wow!

and little miss jaelyn turns 2 years old!!

i attended two more births as a doula!

november:

this month was truly a blur for me...

it was a busy month, we opened our 4th elevation campus in blakeney!

we attended a panthers game with our friends larry and janet.

despite many blessings and the season of gratefulness, it was a difficult month, honestly,

we had a life changing event occur that i will never forget or understand.

but God has been faithful and everlasting!

december:

jamil and i celebrated our 11 year anniversary!

i attended a birth of a friend from our old church on our anniversary!

but we celebrated the night before so it was all good!!

i was blessed to be able to have a girls night out with 6 of my favorite ladies to kick off the holiday festivities!

we had an amazing Christmas season, we spent a lot of time leading up to the big day at elevation for our Christmas eve worship experiences! what a blessing to be a part of something so big!!!

we had a wonderful christmas holiday. jamil took a lot of time off from work

and we were able to enjoy our family and celebrate the season!!!

it is so great to be back!

i hope that you have each had a wonderful Christmas and great start to your new year!

i promise to return soon!

blessings ~
dawn

september first...

2010-09-01T13:58:00.000-04:00

is it really september first already? it is hard to believe that summer is at it's end and fall is around the corner. i have taken a few months off from blogging, mainly because i really have not had the time to keep up with it. but i have missed it and as i get back into a routine i plan to make blogging part of it again. this summer really threw me off, but it has been a great one. we have had lots going on at our house ~ lots to share and lots to tell!

i look forward to sharing more over the next few weeks. God has really been on the move in our family and i feel extremely blessed!

be back soon...

2010-06-14T16:57:00.001-04:00

it has been over a month since my last post, i think that is the longest time between posts. ever.

i have often thought of quitting this whole blog thing, since i have not been very good at it lately.

but i found after taking about a month off that i am really missing it. really i do.

i realized as i began writing this today that i celebrate three years of blogging this month. wow.

hopefully as i begin my fourth year of blogging i will be able to come back from this break refreshed and with lots of things to say.

i am sorry for an unannounced break and appreciate those of you who continue to read and continue to follow my blog!

so stay tuned as i plan to begin writing once again. soon.

**** and excuse the way my blog is looking! it is under construction as i am working on a new look!***

on wings like eagles...

2010-05-11T14:47:00.011-04:00

something you may or may not know about me is that i have a fear of heights. i really don't like them. it makes me sick to think about doing any kind of daring activity that would require being up high. no way, never, would you catch me hang-gliding or jumping out of an airplane with a parachute for fun. also, i don't really think it is fun to climb up to the top of high places (towers, lighthouses, etc) and look down. it would just make me sick. i am ok with flying in an airplane or riding on a roller coaster. i am not freaked out by that. but the thought of being up high and looking around and seeing what is below or jumping from something that is high and falling to the ground is really scary to me. in fact, i don't even like to watch a scene in a movie where the actor is doing that. yuck. makes me sick.

so i have found myself in this place in my life where i feel like i am being taken to new heights. really high, really scary ones. ones that are out of my comfortable place. God has begun to use me in some different ways that i could never have thought of or imagined. ever. so many of the things that He is placing in front of me, are really truly pretty scary for me. they are so unfamiliar and they feel so out of my reach. so high, too high for me. and completely out of my comfort level. i feel like these are things that are suppose to be for someone else and not for me. honestly, i keep asking Him if He is sure that He has chosen the right person. i think perhaps he is looking for someone else. silly question. because He is God Almighty. He doesn't make a mistake and He knows the plan He has.

every time i look around at the things in my life that are comfortable and instead of looking up at what He has planned for me, i know i am not doing what He has planned for me. i am trying to stay where i am comfortable and do what i know how to do. but, while in my comfort, i am being disobedient to what He is showing me and telling me. i am trying to do what I want to do, because it is so much more comfortable. but it is not what He has planned for me.

since i desire to follow His plan for my life, i have to put this fear of these new heights aside. i have to look up and rely on Him, the One who has given me these new levels to reach for. the One who has chosen me, because He knows best. i am pushed out of my comfort zone and i trust in Him. i find my strength and my comfort in Him.

but those who hope in the LORD, will renew their strength.
they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

isaiah 40:31

a few favorite things...

2010-05-10T14:20:00.000-04:00

...from this special mother's day weekend!!

a special night celebrating a very special lady

a surprise visit from my sister for the weekend

a friday night dinner not cooked by me (carry out from pei-wei)

a beautiful and special bracelet from my husband

a day of shopping and eating sushi for lunch with my sister

an awesome worship experience and message at church

a morning to sleep in, arranged by my oldest son who took care of the little ones

a few handmade gifts from my sweet kiddos

a cookout with family

a visit to the hospital to see a sweet friend and her new baby

i hope that you each had a wonderful weekend filled with a few of your favorite things!

i hope you were celebrated well (if you are a mom)

and had a chance to celebrate your mother well!

it was a great weekend full of lots of great memories!

pictures may or may not follow soon :)

love & blessings,

dawn

sneak peek...

2010-05-05T15:53:00.000-04:00

here is a sneak peek at atleast one of the things that is keeping me soooo busy these days....

it's not complete and definitely needs more work

but i thought i would share one thing that is competing for my attention

CLICK HERE!

check it out and then come back and leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

lots to catch up on...

2010-05-04T23:22:00.000-04:00

ever really want to do something but time just rarely allows?
ever have so much to do that the "fun" things just get pushed aside?

that is how i feel about my blog these days!

i promise i will be back soon with lots of stuff to catch you up on!

quite the little girl...

2010-04-20T09:09:00.003-04:00

last week, i took jaelyn to our pediatrician for her 18 month well check.
jaelyn is doing great!!!
what a blessing for a completely healthy and happy baby girl!

jaelyn is still a little peanut...
weighing in at 21 pounds (under the curve, guess it is like the 0%)
but now worries because she gained a pound since her 15 month check up!

and she measures 32 inches long (50-75%)

jordyn loves to dress her up!
excuse the wild hair - it was just one of those days!

jaelyn loves to talk on this old cell phone!
so sweet!
she is quite the talker, she says lots and lots of words.
and repeats everything too!!

i'm a doula...

2010-04-19T07:54:00.000-04:00

the last several weeks have been quite an amazing journey. there have been a few bumps in the road and a few moments of completely being overwhelmed and full of doubt and fear. but throughout the journey God has been at work and showing me His will for me.

a few weeks ago, i told you that i was getting my certification to be a doula. so i thought i would tell you a little bit about where i am in the process and what has been going on in my life surrounding this big huge God led adventure.

i do not need to be certified to be a doula. so i am not waiting for my certification to "become a doula". God has given me this passion and desire for this field and i am claiming it. i am a doula! so i gladly and proudly accept the title of a doula!

part of my certification requires me to actually assist three families during their childbirth. that was the part that really scared me. i was really nervous how i would find clients who would hire me without my certification. but since it is part of God's plan. i have set it aside and let Him handle that part and when i did. when i accepted my title and claimed the role. He showed me that He will bring me the mothers and the clients that He wants me to support and encourage.

i have received confirmation after confirmation that this is God's will for me. it has been wild. you know when you pray about something and you ask for God to confirm it in a huge way like maybe a billboard. well, i feel like my confirmations have been even bigger than that. God has put so many different opportunities in my path. He has brought me so many connections and new friends already. and i just started pursuing this. but He has had this plan in the works for a long time, i just didn't know it!

i am so excited about my new journey!

since i haven't been so great about blogging lately and have a lot to write about, i will continue this in another post. for those of you who really don't care about reading about the doula stuff, i am working on a blog and website that in the future i will be putting the details there. but for now, this is part of my story and my life so i am sharing it here!

a day at the zoo....

2010-04-12T13:54:00.005-04:00

on the last official day of spring break, jamil took the day off and we headed to the riverbanks zoo in columbia, sc {along with everyone else in the state of nc & sc} it never crossed my mind how busy it would be during the week of spring break. despite the crowd and managing four kids at the zoo, we had a great time! i remembered the camera but minus the media card, so we only had the internal memory with 21 pictures to take. oh well, here are a few pictures of the family at the zoo!

josh took this one.
this is where the super cool monkeys "hang"
but they were hiding and hard to get a good shot

a shot with me and the kids
right by the elephants, who were pretty stinky that day!
a fashion mishap: yes, i was wishing i had brought my
brown sling and not the black one, ooopss!

joshua showing jaelyn one of the animals,
i can not recall which one

my three big kids!

there is just something about palm trees that i love!

oh, look at the baby giraffe!
my very favorite animal that we saw!
love me some babies!

jamil & little buddy!

daddy & his girls as we are leaving the zoo!

what a great family day!!!

a piece of my story (part 2)...

2010-04-08T07:35:00.004-04:00

this entry is the second part of a piece of my story and has a very exciting announcement at the end...

so, i continued to pray over the next few months. not sure exactly how God wanted to use me but know that i was willing to be used how He wanted to use me. it is really a scary feeling to know that God is doing a work in you but you can't really figure out exactly what it is. but i gave it all to Him.

i began a bible study in january and we are reading a joyce meyer book called a leader in the making. the women in this group all have a passion for other women and are in this study to find out how God wants to use them. this bible study and the reading that i have done has been instrumental me hearing from God over the past few months.

in the beginning of march, after watching a few shows which i love to watch about childbirth and babies, i started thinking about becoming a nurse midwife again. i began to pray specifically for God to show me if this is a dream that was mine or was it His. i clearly kept feeling Him telling me "no, not now". in my blog hopping i stumbled upon a few blogs that are written by nurses. and somewhere in that i found a blog written by a mother who was pregnant with her second baby and she had a few posts in there about being a doula. and i was intrigued. and i felt something stirring inside of me!

if you don't know what a doula is, basically it is a birth or labor assistant. she is someone who is hired to care for the mother during the her labor and birth. the word doula means "woman servant". traditionally, this role is given to friends and family members of the parents as a support system. with a doula, she is not only an encourager and supporter, but she is also educates and serves as an advocate for the parents. she is present at the labor and birth the entire time working with the father and any other support person in the delivery room to help the mother during this time regardless of whether she chooses to have interventions or a natural childbirth. a doula does not perform anything medical or give any medical advice.

i had researched this some time ago, but wasn't sure this was for me, i had bookmarked a few websites but felt i was really suppose to go in the direction of the medical field. so after visiting this blog, i went back and looked over the sites i had saved. i began doing research about being a doula and began praying. God quickly and clearly answered my prayers. i felt Him telling me that this is what he wanted me to pursue. things fell into place and i have begun my certification process to becoming a doula.

i am so excited about this new journey that i am on! it feels so great to have a direction and a place to put the passions i have. i can not wait to see how God works in this new journey. there is so much more that i want to share with you about this journey. i will be working on a series of posts that will share this journey. i am also gathering ideas for a new blog that is specifically on being a doula.

so there it is, my big exciting announcement!!! thanks for reading this piece of my story!

being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
philippians 1:6

many blessings ~
dawn

a piece of my story (part 1)...

2010-04-07T07:20:00.007-04:00

several weeks ago, i wrote this post and i have been working on "my story". everyone has a story, and everyone's story is different. a few things have developed in my life and i wanted to share a piece of my story with you. i am posting it in two parts! so, here goes...

as a young girl, pre-teen age, i loved children. i started babysitting at like 11 years old or so. i babysat for a lot of different families. i would get so upset if i didn't have a babysitting job over a weekend. i loved it that much. i babysat all through middle school, high school and college. it was no surprise when i earned a degree in elementary education with a concentration on early childhood and became a teacher. i was only a teacher for two years when I was blessed with a child of my own. i quit my job as a teacher and happily became a stay at home mommy.

being a mom is when i developed a new love for babies and toddlers. with each baby i gave birth to, i became very passionate about pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. i also became very passionate for for other women, especially those in the child-bearing and child-rearing season. after my second baby was born, i felt like God had placed a calling on my life to become a labor and delivery nurse and eventually a nurse midwife.

by the time i had my third baby, i was the coordinator of a mops (mothers of preschoolers) group and the passion i had for other young mothers was undeniable. the thought of another women going through their season as a mom without knowing Christ burdened me. i know that i couldn't be a mom without God being the center of my life. my passion was so strong to tell other moms about Him. God allowed me to minister to other mothers during this season of my life and through our mops group. that was one of the sweetest seasons of my life.

after my season with mops was over, i was heading into a new season of my life, to pursue a nursing degree. God had other plans for me. i attended nursing school for one semester and loved it! after that semester, it was made clear to me that it was not time to finish my degree. nothing fell into place, so i withdrew from school and put that dream on hold.

it was a few months later when i realized God's plan for me. that was when he blessed us with another positive pregnancy test and with our fourth baby, jaelyn. during this season of being pregnant and becoming a new mom once again, God began to teach me that my family is my first ministry. i took advantage of this time and began to get my life in balance and just focus on my family. i didn't lead any type of women's ministry, i didn't volunteer much at my church and i didn't do many things outside of my family. as much as i want to pursue my passion to minister to other moms, He wanted me to realize my family comes first.

shortly after jaelyn turned one, i felt the passion in me stirring again and wanted to pursue what exactly God had in store for me. my passion is two fold, because i am passionate about other women (women's ministry) but i am also passionate about pregnancy & childbirth. i began to pray about what how God wanted to use me. i also began to research nursing schools during this time, i also began to volunteer at my church as the nursery coordinator.

after praying and researching nursing schools, i got the big red stop sign from God and felt like it was not the right time to go back to school. it was made clear to me that the strenuous hours in school and clinicals was not going to fit into our family's lifestyle. so, i put it on hold and i continued to pray.

but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness
and all these things will be given to you as well
matthew 6:33

....the next piece of my story/part 2 will be posted tomorrow, come back and read it, i promise it will be posted and it has an exciting announcement in it!

many blessings ~
dawn

one and a half...

2010-04-06T07:47:00.003-04:00

seriously, this momma can not believe that

her sweet baby girl is eighteen months old today.

one year ago

this year

jaelyn is growing and changing so much,
many days, i hear myself asking,
"where is my baby girl?"

it surely is bittersweet.

jaelyn is such a busy bee these days. she is all over the place and into just about everything that is in her sight and in her reach. i spend most of my days chasing after her!

and she spends most of her days trying to keep up with her big brothers and big sister. gone are the days when she would just sit and play.

as if three loud and vocal kiddos were not enough, we have been blessed with another talker!! yup, jaelyn talks so much and has a word for everything. it is super cute to hear her talking.

jaelyn has started climbing! she climbs up on the little chairs and loves to "sit-sit". we found her sitting in jordyn's loft bed, she climbed up the slide and made her way into the bed. crazy, i can not take my eyes off of her.

she is a pretty good eater and is a great sleeper. she is still taking two naps a day! it is crazy to think that when she was a "baby" she gave us such a run for our money and was so hard to get to sleep. now it is a piece of cake! we put her in her crib and she goes to sleep. honestly, sometimes i miss her getting up and rocking her. i can't believe i am saying that!

jaelyn is such a sweet baby girl!! we could not imagine our lives and our family without her. she is such a blessing and every day i could just eat her up!!

holy wonderful easter weekend...

2010-04-05T14:36:00.007-04:00

wow, is about all i can say! we had a very busy but a wonderful easter weekend. i am going to put the events over the past weekend in one big post. i will try to keep it short and sweet!!

to start off our easter weekend, on friday evening we went next door to my in-laws house for a cook out. the kids had a great time playing with their cousins. we ate and the kids had an easter egg hunt.

my four kiddos with my nieces!

on saturday, we pretty much stayed around the house, getting ready for easter sunday, ironing clothes, baths, washing hair, etc. we also made some food for the next day and dyed easter eggs. one of my dear friends who now lives in georgia came in for the weekend so i got to spend a little bit of time with her in the afternoon. of course i did not take a picture.

the kids went to find the basket in our closet!

that evening, we gave the kids their easter basket. i think it was last year when i started this tradition, i load up a huge basket full of stuff the kids can use over spring break. it is a way to replenish toys and activities that we are out of and it keeps them busy over spring break. last year, i filled it with a lot of arts and craft type stuff. this year, i filled it with indoor and outdoor activities. it had play-dough, bubbles & wands, hula hoops, jump ropes, balls, painting activity, some candy, silly bandz, gum, water guns and a swing for outside for jaelyn, little people dolls for jaelyn, chapstick for jordyn. they loved it although i don't know how busy it will keep them throughout the week, because they played with most of it today already. the novelty may wear out soon, but let's hope not.

here's some of the goodies!

a quick shot of all four before we left for church
easter 2010

on sunday morning, we headed uptown to time warner arena where we had one huge church service. i was able to go to the service and just attend. we did not have a full blown ekidz, so i did not have to serve. which i missed serving, but enjoyed the little break. let me tell you, the service was amazing. i have never been so proud of my church and my pastor. the time and effort put into pulling off a service as big as this was so worth it. we had over 11,000 people in attendance and over 700 salvations made.

WOW!! i was so overwhelmed and so moved by what God did in that arena. God's presence was felt and known by so many in the large crowd. we had awesome music, videos, our students were on stage worshiping, thousands and thousands of items were donated to local charities and we had 50 people baptized. it was truly amazing. i could go on and on and probably will in another post all about elevation. but until then, we made the news several times. you can go here to watch a news clip on tv and you can go here to read an article in the newspaper.

after a little bit of nap time, we ate dinner with my parents and took a few shots of the kids before dinner. i never did get a great shot of the four of them let alone a family picture.

today, i am still in my pj's and trying to catch up after the busy and extremely emotionally exciting weekend. i hope to get a few things done and out of the way today, so that i can spend some time enjoying the spring break week with the kids! i also plan to spend the week taking some pictures of the kids as we go out and about and do some fun things, we have plans to get together with some friends and also take a trip somewhere fun on friday!!

easter week...

2010-03-29T13:53:00.003-04:00

i promise i am still alive and i am doing ok! i know i have been very absent from blogging (writing, reading and commenting) as of late. i just don't know where the days have been going, they have been going much too fast for my liking. i feel like i blink and the day is half over and time for lunch. then i blink again and it is completely over and time for bed. if anyone has figured out the formula for slowing down the days yet, please let me know :)

so these days for me have been filled with the normal things a mom has to do everyday, which has included cleaning out closets and switching the wardrobes over to lighter spring clothing! yeah - i am so glad that spring is here! i am ready for some consistent warm days and let it just rain at night! it always seems that i buy clothes for the kids for the new season and then the weather goes back to the old season. but i think slowly but surely spring is coming to stay!

with easter just a few days away, can you believe it?, i will be busy this week putting the finishing touches on our easter outfits and getting stuff for the kids' easter baskets. we will be spending this week and easter weekend, egging the city of charlotte. our church, which meets at several campuses throughout a normal weekend, will be meeting all together for one big huge easter service. we will be having our worship experience at time warner arena (home of the bobcats basketball team) and we are expecting atleast 10,000 people to be in attendance! holy excitement! i can not wait to be a part of this awesome day!

i make no promises, (but surely hope) to blog again this week before easter! so, if i don't get back here before easter, i wish each of you a happy easter! i have been horrible at taking pictures lately, so i will be sure to do that this weekend so i can share how cute my kids are! i also have some exciting news to share but i am saving that for a post of it's own (nope, i am not pregnant, i know that was your first thought!).

until next time!

many blessings,
dawn

a new day...

2010-03-24T07:04:00.002-04:00

the gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him.
ezra 8:22

last week i had one of those days. it was just one of those no good. horrible. bad days. you know we all have them. situations occur, you are tested on every level. you say things to the ones closest to you that you should not have said. your tone was wrong. you shed tears, you shake your head in disbelief. you get angry, impatient and mad. you take it out on everything and everyone in your path. it may not be throwing things or lashing out. we each have our own way of handling the our emotions.

i have a hard time keeping my emotions back, i can not hide how i feel especially with those that are closest to me. i was dealing with something that caused me so much pain and it had nothing to do with my family. but my kids got the worst of me that day and not the best. because i was shaken and broken and just couldn't get it together. and as hard as i tried i just could not shake it off.

the quality time didn't happen. i didn't talk nice. i just couldn't wait for bedtime. i just needed to be all by myself. in a quiet place to think, to breathe, to cry. deep inside, i knew i handled it wrong with my kids. i let my negative emotions get the best of me. but i hadn't the strength to handle it right. to suppress my emotions and be the mom i knew i should be. it is hard to admit but it is the truth.

not giving myself any kind of excuses, fully knowing it is an area of weakness for me, i tucked each of them into bed and whispered, "mommy is so sorry that i was impatient with you and that i yelled a lot today, but tomorrow when we wake up this will be behind us. this day will be over. and tomorrow will be a new day and we can start all over."

and only because of His grace.

but he said to me, "my grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness."
therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 corinthians 12:9

consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials
of many kinds, because you know that the testing
of your faith develops perseverance.
james 1:2

bye bye week, hello weekend!

2010-03-19T08:18:00.002-04:00

i know it has been a week since my last post. this week has just been one of those really "off" kind of weeks for me. lots of ups and downs. and i must say that i am so glad it is friday! this morning, i am taking the little kids to the park! hopefully, i will remember my camera. we are going to meet some new friends there!

this last week started off with me being sick. i actually started with some kind of stomach bug, where i just felt queasy and achy and yucky on sunday, so i had to miss serving as the nursery coordinator, i just couldn't spread my germs to those sweet babies. it lasted a few days. i didn't have much of an appetite. so i think starting off the week being sick just threw the whole week off. i am feeling so much better now.

and of course this week was full of tests and challenges on top of me being sick. but through all of it i was able to really focus on God's desire in how i handled the things that came at me left and right. i was able to see that these road blocks were put in my way to throw me off course. but i will not allow it because He is my strength. i know that the plans God has for my life are from Him and i will persevere through the trials and overcome them! so, i have been able to put it all behind me and move ahead in the right direction towards Him.

so i am glad that this week is over and i am looking forward to a great weekend! we are starting it off with a date night to celebrate my hubby's birthday and then we plan to have lots of family time! which will include some spring time shopping! i am ready to change over the closets and get rid of the winter coats and sweaters! i am so excited that spring is upon us!!

happy weekend everyone!

many blessings ~
dawn

floating...

2010-03-12T07:00:00.003-05:00

the anchor has sunk and the ship is just floating along. not really going forward and not really going backward. lots of stuff stirring inside and along the edges of the ship but no real direction or movement being made. lots of clutter being removed and scrubbing of the decks gives a fresh feel but still not going forward. a course not mapped out and not challenge to undertake. no sign of a storm to come and know the captain is in full control.

*****

waiting is so hard for me. not hearing a direction or knowing a move to make. i like to be moving and doing, while God has been calling me to just be. while i have been waiting for a direction to take or a move to make, He has been working on me from the inside out. feeling like i was getting close to whatever He has planned, whatever that something "big" is i feel coming. i surrender all to Him as i learn to just be, knowing He is in control of this ship. wanting Him to fully use me to His glory i wait. and just as i am getting use to waiting, He gives me this direction*, stay busy doing the last thing I told you to do.* in obedience, but not by my design i focus on the last thing He has called me to do. for now. i am comforted that He is in control and that i gave it all to Him.

so where is your ship today, floating and waiting? cruising and doing? or sinking and shaken?

        I surrender all, I surrender all, 
 all to thee, my blessed Savior, 
 I surrender all. 

 All to Jesus I surrender; 
 humbly at his feet I bow, 
 worldly pleasures all forsaken; 
 take me, Jesus, take me now.

i cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.
psalm 57:2

but thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
2 corinthians 2:14

*taken from a leader in the making by joyce meyer

eyeglasses...

2010-03-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

joshua got his first pair of glasses!
doesn't he look so smart?

wordless wednesday...

2010-03-10T08:33:00.006-05:00

five...

2010-03-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

it feels like yesterday when i loaded up josh and jordyn and headed out to run some last minute errands to get a few last minute "must haves". later that same night after being with a group of friends from church, i installed the infant seat in the back of the van. thinking i was ahead of the game, two weeks before my due date these things were done and the bags were pretty much packed for the hospital.
little did i know as i was checking off the remaining "to dos" baby #3 was ready to make his way into the world, even if i wasn't.

five years ago today, i gave birth to the sweetest baby boy ever. you can read the rest of his birth story here.

today jesiah celebrates his fifth birthday! last night we celebrated with a party and he had his first sleepover with two of his best buddies! today we had a family day, and he got to pick out a few gifts at his favorite store - target!

jesiah,
you are such a kind and sweet boy. mommy and daddy are so proud of the big boy you are becoming. you say the sweetest things that melt my heart. i love how you hold jaelyn's little hand when you are sitting next to her in the van. you have become such a great big brother to jaelyn. jesiah you are so bright and know so much at five years old. you have endless energy and are so busy. most days you play so well all by yourself. you love to dress up and pretend play. you are becoming so good at video games too! you are so laid back and so full of life. you are starting to really take an interest in learning and reading, which is perfect timing considering you will be heading off to kindergarten in august. mommy is going to miss you so much when you are in school, but we have so many months left until that day. i am just going to focus on loving you and teaching you all about God over the next few months. you are such a special little boy and God has such big plans for you, jesiah. you are such a blessing to our family. we love you so much! happy fifth birthday, little buddy!
love, mommy

almost five...

2010-03-04T07:47:00.021-05:00

tomorrow, my "baby boy" jesiah will turn five years old!
can you believe it?
i can not!
he is not a baby, toddler or preschooler any more!
he is a big boy!
(insert happy sigh here)
he is such a blessing he is to me and our family.
jesiah is so full of life and i am so excited to celebrate his big day!!!

in honor of his birthday tomorrow, here is a look back at the last four years...

birth to one...

read birth story here

one...

two...

three...

read birthday post here

four...

read birthday post here

i shall return over the weekend with another post all about jesiah and
also some birthday pictures of his celebration!

until then, i am off to love on my four year old, because he is not officially five yet!

things that make me smile...

2010-03-04T07:27:00.001-05:00

jaelyn's little voice
**
looking at jesiah's baby pictures
**
& thinking about the day he was born
**
watching tv on the couch with my hubby after a long day
**
getting a sweet comment on my blog or an encouraging text message from a friend
**
planning a baby shower for a friend
**
crossing something off of my to do list
**
going to church

so, what are you things that make you smile today?
focus one those thoughts and not the ones that don't.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

wordless wednesday...

2010-03-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

photo take by the beautiful mess

read this instead...

2010-03-02T10:46:00.003-05:00

today is one of those days where i just am at a loss for words, i have been for a few days. no worries, nothing is going on. everything is good! i just don't feel like "talking" that much. my twitter and facebook updates have been lacking too, not just my blog. i am busy this week planning and getting ready for jesiah's birthday. he will be five on saturday. i also have some other things i am working on for church.

while i was catching up on my blog reading, i read this and wanted to share it with you. ephesians 3:20 is the theme for my blog and one of my favorite verses ever. it is one of my pastor's too. so, since i don't have much to say today, read this! i promise it will give you such a great perspective and leave you very encouraged!

at the bottom of our dirty laundry...

2010-02-25T09:04:00.003-05:00

i have been reading the book, a leader in the making by joyce meyer for a weekly bible study. we just finished up a few chapters on negative conditions of the heart. wow! there were twenty of them listed and i didn't realize how much junk can be in our hearts. junk that God certainly doesn't want there. junk that satan puts there to keep us from truly being who God is calling us to be.

the book focuses on the fact that we have to work on these negative heart conditions before God can use our leadership potential. regardless if you see yourself as a leader or not, it is important to find out what negative conditions of the heart you may possess so that you can live a life that fully worships God. some negative conditions that were described were a proud heart, a faint heart, a greedy, lustful heart and an unforgiving heart. i am realizing our hearts can be full of these negative things and we may not even know. and only God can reveal them to us if we ask.

the other day i was doing laundry. i had gotten way behind on it due to the stomach bug that hit us last week. it was really piled up. and i started thinking, i did a ton of laundry last week, why am i so behind? that is when i realized, i was only doing the stuff on top of the piles, the stuff that was the dirtiest. i was able to get that cleaned and put away. but the bottom of the piles never got washed, because i just couldn't get to it. the stuff on the top of the piles consumed me and i never got to the bottom. in fact, i had forgotten that we had some of those clothes. as i was digging my way to the bottom of the piles, i thought how much my dirty laundry piles are like our hearts.

we have these negative conditions of our hearts, the messy ones that are on top and we deal with and we get a handle on. we get a handle on those and think we are all set. but because we are always maintaining what is on the top, because just like dirty laundry it continues to pile up, we don't have time or we forget to work on what is on the bottom. so we have to dig really deep to get to the bottom of our heart and pull the things out that we haven't dealt with. just like the huge dirty laundry piles sitting on our laundry floor. they may not always be there, we may get caught up but before we know it those piles appear once again.

so, my encouragement to you to do on a very discouraging topic, is to dig deep. ask God to reveal to you the things that He wants you to work so that He can take you to the next level of where He is calling you to be.

for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart. 1 samuel 16:7

what's your story, morning glory*...

2010-02-23T23:21:00.006-05:00

after writing this last week, it really got me to thinking about something that is missing on my blog. something that i look for when i visit new blogs. i want to know the blogger's story, their background. who they are. and i realized that i don't even have what i am looking for on my own blog.

when i end up on a new blog, sometimes i have no idea how i got there but when i do, before i read their most recent post, i like to know a little bit about them. it just helps identify with who they are. it's like reading a novel, you have to identify with the character to really get into their story and what they are sharing. and i like to be able to read their story easily, like by just clicking a link, and then i get a good review of who they are!

i have started working on this for my blog. a link that will share my story. i want new readers, or those of you who don't know my whole story, to know a little bit more about me. for those of you that know me pretty well, it may be a bit boring for you, because you know my story. it will be like one huge testimony to God and to how He has worked in my life and it will share about the trials and triumphs i have gone through.

my story, is a piece of writing that is in the working stages! i am excited about sharing it with you. i will let you know when it is done - no promises on a date! but soon!

so, how about you, do you share "your story" on your blog?

*i couldn't help but using lyrics from a song to entitle this post and so funny that i would use this title, seeing as how i am not at all a morning person!!

oh what a week...

2010-02-22T10:08:00.006-05:00

phewwww....last week was a long week!

first, it is hard to believe that over valentine's weekend we were playing in snow and then this past weekend we were outside playing in 60 degree sunny beautiful weather. and now as i sit here and write this it is raining outside - yuck! i am so over this wet weather! i am reading for sunny days, with lots of rain at night!!!

if you remember, last weekend, jesiah had that yucky stomach bug,(you know the one that is going around way too much these days!) and then it spread through most of our family during the first part of last week....

yup, on sunday afternoon, jaelyn began running a fever and was feeling plain awful.

then, jordyn came home from school on monday and complained of a stomach ache and within an hour she started throwing up.

jaelyn's fever continued while jordyn missed school on tuesday and wednesday. i did take jaelyn to the doctor because she kept running a fever and had no other symptoms other than just feeling yucky and little appetite. i thought maybe it could be an ear infection. our doctor tested her for h1n1, which was negative and checked her ears and nothing. she must have had the same kind of virus, although she never threw up. which i am certainly not complaining about. somewhere in the midst of all of that, jamil got sick but it hit him hard and fast he was over it in like less than 12 hours! josh never got the stomach bug, he did have a little cough and cold but nothing stomach related and nothing that required much attention or missing school!! praise God!

and believe it or not, even after caring for a sick family, i never really got it!!! my stomach was a little off but i never threw up. i had one day where i didn't feel great but it could have been a mind over matter thing. seeing and cleaning up after everyone else can make you feel sick!! i was so scared that i would get it, but just kept telling myself that i wouldn't. and that is when i called in my prayer warriors to help me fight it off! and as they prayed for me, i kept praying and speaking health and wellness and i was able to fight it off! i am so thankful that i had people praying for me! one of them wrote this about fighting off sickness with the power of His healing! you should read it, it is good stuff! wow! the power of prayer and speaking truth amazes me

(one thing you have to know about me is that i have never had a stomach bug that resulted in throwing up. never. praise God!! which is so good because i hate to throw up! hate it! the handful of times that i threw up were because of morning sickness in my pregnancies!)

even though the start of the week was filled with sickness, we conquered that and were able to end the week by attending a super special, super fun birthday party for our pastor. and then we were able to go about our weekend as usual, with some family time and lots of time at church!!

so, as i sit here and type this, i am so glad God has healed our family and i am looking forward to a much different week!! i hope that you are having a good start to your week!

share your ministry...

2010-02-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

no matter what your story, no matter where you are in life, i believe that each of us has our own ministry. we have people in our lives even if for a short season who we have touched by something we have said or something we have done. your ministry it is the purpose and the calling that God has placed on your life.

God uses each of us to minister to someone else. whether you have lived through a tragedy, gone through a trial, pastor a church, experienced a miracle, lead an organization, or are just a plain "old ordinary girl" who thinks you have nothing to share...

you have a story. therefore you have a ministry.

and for many of us we share our stories on our blogs. some bloggers have a huge following and some do not. it doesn't really matter the number. the point is you are sharing your ministry. you are doing what God asks of us.

this week over at kelly's korner she is highlighing "show us your ministry". if you have a blog and it tells your story, that is your ministry. God uses each of us and our blogs in a different way and to minister to different people.

here on my blog, i share a lot stories and pictures of our large family. i hope you will take a few minutes to check out my blog and learn a little bit about us! i also share in more meaningful posts how God is teaching me and using me. i share from my heart and believe in being transparent and real. but i also realize there is a line between being yourself and being "too personal". i always write my posts with the goal of leaving my readers encouraged! sometimes that is why i won't publish certain things, if i haven't figured out how to post it in a encouraging way, a lot of times i will wait until God shows me what that is. and if i still don't have an answer, i know if i just look to my bible, He will give me a scripture to share and then i can hit that "publish post" button!!

while i don't have a story that shares a journey of something really huge whether it be a trial or a triumph, i still have a story (and with four kids there are lots of them!). i believe that God will use my stories to minister to those that He intends for it too. i may not have a large number of readers and followers, but i believe that if what i write just touches one person than the goal of that writing was accomplished.

i am passionate about other women, especially expecting mothers and mothers of young children. i know God has placed that passion on my heart and i know my ministry is primarily to that group of women. that doesn't mean what i have to say won't apply to someone in a different category, because God will use us it lots of different ways that we don't expect! He knows no limits when it comes to sharing His power and glory!

i will continue in another post more specifics and an overall "about me" kind of post, so you will have to come back and check out part two of this post. that is where i will share a little more of "my story"

so, what is your ministry and what do you share on your blog!
link up to kelly's blog and share who you are and why you keep a blog!

thanks for stopping by, leave a comment and let me know you were here and pleaes come back again soon!

one week, one city and 5,000 volunteers...

2010-02-16T15:28:00.007-05:00

there is no better way to celebrate elevation's four year anniversary and valentine's day than with love week! last week we celebrated the four year anniversary of our church in a huge way!
and this week it gets even better!

one word that can be used to totally describe our church is audacious! and what we are doing at elevation church this week through God and for our city is completely audacious.

this week we will be unleashing the power of 5,000 volunteer hours spread across our city to reach out and serve. the goal of this project is to have 5,000 volunteer hours logged. it is only tuesday day 3 of the project and we have logged over 3,000 hours already!

at elevation, we invest a large portion of our money back into the city of charlotte. we also invest a lot of time and energy serving with strategic community outreach partners. i volunteer regularly with one of them called safe journey, a program that helps teem moms stay in school. i enjoy every second of time i can put into giving back to this organization.

there are so many ways to get involved in community outreach and this week is a great way to get started. if you don't live in the charlotte area, i am sure there are plenty of ways to get involved in your city. you can go here to find out what we are doing to serve the city of charlotte. check it out and maybe it will inspire you to get involved and show some love in your city.

one way, i will be volunteering this week is by posting on twitter and facebook statistics about some of our community outreach partners. if you aren't already, follow me on twitter - dawnkmassey. or become my friend on facebook, so you can find out how important it is to get involved and spread some love!

you can listen to pastor steven's sermon here, it is all about love week! you don't want to miss this one!

little mommy...

2010-02-15T07:40:00.000-05:00

jaelyn turned sixteen months old on february 6!
since it was not so long ago that i did a 15 month update,
i am going to share this sweet picture and little story!

at sixteen months old, jaelyn loves to carry around baby dolls and purses!
oh. my. it is so stinkin' cute.
she will say "bay-beee" and hold the doll and be super sweet with it!
it is so cute to see her acting like a little mommy.
she is a girl after my own heart.

a lot of people are telling me that she is looking more like me.
so what do you think?

clebrating valentine's weekend with...

2010-02-14T11:46:00.011-05:00

.....some snow, so sick little boy, snow balls,
snow cream, yummy soup and seriously cute sugar cookies.

on friday night we had a date night and it started snowing while we were out! it started accumulating faster than we expected and too a long time to get home. but we arrived home safe and sound. thankful for God's protection around us!

we were catching up on some recorded tv and heard one of the kids in the bathroom. quickly we realized it was jesiah and he had thrown up several times. yuck. he only managed to make it to the toilet one time. so our date night ended with cleaning up, changing sheets and caring for our sick little boy. he continued to throw up every hour through the middle of the night. poor guy.

on saturday morning we woke up to several inches of beautiful white fluffy snow. i was so excited that we could have a family day in the snow. but before we could go out and play, josh and jamil headed off to their last basketball game and end of season party.

poor jesiah had to miss his last game. he was still feeling sick, but thankfully not throwing up!

when jamil and josh returned home we got ready to go outside and play in the "winter wonderland". by this time, the snow had begun to melt but we still had enough to be able to play.

jaelyn all bundled up to go out and play!
her first time in the snow!!!

had to make everyone pose for a picture before they went off to play!

mommy and jaelyn!
yes, i went outside this time!!

jaelyn loved being in the snow!!!

jordyn and i made a snowman
and then we decided two snowmen are always better than one....

huge snowball made by josh and jamil!

jamil & jaelyn!

huge snowball became a snowman and part of the family!

jesiah had fallen asleep on the couch before we went outside, so it was easy to sneak out without him. but, oh. my. it was so sad to have him miss this fun!! this is what he looked like while we were outside, seriously, i checked on him several times and this is what i would find...

out like a light!

we came inside and made some yummy homemad pasta e fagioli soup for dinner and made snow cream too! yummy!

jesiah was awake and he even ate some.

jordyn is feeding jaelyn snow cream! they love it!!

jamil headed off to church and we stayed at home not wanting to share jesiah's germs. jordyn and josh worked on their valentine's cards to take to school tomorrow.

and then we made some sugar cookies and decorated them!

jaelyn didn't decorate any cookies but she enjoyed eating them!

before the kids headed off to bed and before i crashed on the couch we watched a charlie brown valentine!!

today, we had to miss going to church, which we hated to do. we were all disappointed. it is elevation's four year anniversary and we are kicking off "love week". but i wanted to keep jesiah home, he was still not back to 100%. so we had some heart shaped pancakes for breakfasst and have been hanging around in our pjs. i spent the morning cleaning up around the house and worked on gathering paperwork to file our taxes tomorrow.

so how did you spend your valentine's weeken? was it as eventful as our? hope it was a great one and even more romantic than mine!

two valentine's, two surprises...

2010-02-12T12:06:00.008-05:00

in honor of valentine's day, i am reflecting back on two special valentine's days that jamil and i have celebrated. each of them were surprises! one year he surprised me and the other one i surprised him! i am also linking up to kelly's show us your life valentine's dates and memories! so welcome, if this is your first time stopping by! read a post or two or three and leave a comment and let me know you were here!

his surprise to me...

i wouldn't say that jamil is the most romantic man as far as planning surprises and gifts. but this year he planned such a special surprise date that i have always remembered. i do not like surprises at all. especially if i know there is a surprise coming, i would rather just know. but this day, he totally blew me away and i did not see it coming. he put a lot of thought and detail into this special date.

it was valentine's day 2003, i was about 4 months pregnant with jordyn. at that time our life was pretty stressful. jamil was working a full time job with not so good benefits and working three small part time jobs on the side. jamil has always worked super hard to provide for our family so that i can stay home with our kids. one of his part time jobs at the time was serving tables at a restaurant. so of course he was scheduled to work that valentine's weekend! i was sad that we wouldn't be able to do a date night. but little did i know he had planned a surprise for me.

it was a friday morning and i was at a ladie's bible study. as we were wrapping up our study, one of the ladies who was hosting the study was closing in prayer and began to pray for me and for the baby (jordyn!) i was carrying. she also prayed for my husband. she closed the prayer and then began to read a sweet letter to me that was written by my husband.

in the letter he shared his affection for me and then told me that he had a surprise planned for me that day. i was handed a rose and sent on my way home with directions to go home and get dressed up. when i arrived at our house there were balloons decorating my front porch. another letter inside of our house said that childcare was arranged for josh and that i was suppose to get ready to go on a lunch date. i would be told of the location later. after josh was settled in at my mother in law's house, i received a note from her that was from jamil giving me directions to my destination although i didn't know where it was. as i started driving, jamil told me to meet me at an italian restaurant. when i arrived, he was there waiting for me with a dozen roses. we then had a special lunch date together.

even though i don't have any pictures to share, (i probably have the letters somewhere), i will always remember what time and thought jamil put into that special date.

little did he know five years and 3 kids later i would have a surprise for him...

my surprise to him...

i had the "baby itch" for a long time, when jamil told me that he was ready to consider adding a fourth child to our family. i was so excited that we were finally on the same page! in january 2008, i had every sign, symptom and feeling of being pregnant. but to my sadness, i was not. just one month later, i was barely late, and decided to take another pregnancy test. i thought that i could be pregnant but after going through such immense disappointment the previous month, i didn't wan to get my hopes up. when the test showed a very faint positive, i was so thrilled. but because of that faint (really faint) line, i didn't get my hopes up too high. after taking a few more tests and seeing the positive sign, i knew i was. i never keep secrets like this. i am the most loyal person if someone shares their secret with me. but when it comes to my own, i can not contain myself.

i received the positive tests just a few days before valentine's day. so i decided to surprise jamil in a big way. i bought him a new bible and then found several scripture verses that had to do with having babies, new life and multiplying! i cut out little hearts and wrote the scripture reference on each one and stuck them inside of the bible like bookmarks. i gave him the bible. he read the verses and kind of just looked at me and said, i know, i know you want another baby, i guess that is what you are trying to say. after he said that i handed him his own copy that he got when i was pregnant with josh, of "she's having a baby and i am having a breakdown". and that is when he got it and said/asked, "you're pregnant?" he didn't really believe me until i showed him all three positive pregnancy tests, even though they were faint lines, i reminded him a line is a line, it doesn't matter what intensity of color!! you can also go here to read about it, when i posted it two years ago!!

that brings me to this year, i am pretty sure that there will be no surprises from either of us. i know for sure that i am not planning one this year, maybe next year though ;) we have plans to go out tonight on a "shopping date", but i just heard that they are calling for more snow again in charoltte, so we will see.

happy valentine's day and thanks so much for sharing these special memories with me!

captured...

2010-02-12T11:37:00.006-05:00

has it really been a week since i have posted something here? uggghhh! this week has gone by super fast. by the way, if you read my blog on google reader or bloglines (or something like that), it will go completely unnoticed to you that i have indeed been on here updating our pictures! so you will have to go to the actual blog to see the new pictures i have added, so go check it out!

speaking of our new family pictures, when i look at them, i just stare at them and am amazed at how each image captured so much about our family and about each of our kids. i can't get over how much older each of them is looking. (and acting too! - as i scream inside, please stop growing up so fast!!!) each of their sweet faces has taken on a new look. baby faces are fading away and being replaced by more definition and less chubbiness!

i am filled with joy and feel so blessed to have such an amazing family (and amazing photographers who captured all of this!) i am amazed at how God created each one of my kids and my husband. how he has knitted us together and made our family what it is! i do not take for granted how special each member of my family is. i am so thankful for each little personality that is represented in each one of my kids. and i am so thankful for such a Godly husband who is leading our family and these kids who are so real and so full of personality in an amazing way.

i get overwhelmed thinking about how blessed i am and completely captured by it!

candice and daniel did such a fabulous job on capturing so much about our family! thanks guys! you do an amazing job and i am so thankful for you!!

mommy doesn't play...

2010-02-05T20:36:00.003-05:00

its been a rainy, cold yucky day. i don't do this weather too well and decided to stay home. it just isn't fun carting two little kiddos around in the rain. i had no real reason to go anywhere, so staying home was a good choice! i had planned to do so much today which included finishing up a few posts but somehow the day got away from me and barely anything got done. i guess i made choices to do other things. i spent some time talking on the phone. and i also spent some time on the floor "playing" with jesiah and jaelyn. jesiah asked me to play with him. so i tried my best to forget about my to do list and just hang out with him. he informed me that i didn't play with him. i told him that i really don't know how to play like he does. he is full of energy and imagination. and me i just want to organize the toys into bins and baskets. i tried to tell him, mommy just plays differently than you do. i don't think he got it because in his four year old mind, (almost five!), that is what he does best is play! jesiah loves to play and is so good at it. me, not so much. i hope that even though i didn't play like he wanted me to, that the time i spent with him left a deposit on his heart and when he gets older he will remember the times that i did stop and "play" with him.

oh, don't forget to go here this weekend (before midnight on sunday) and please leave a comment there about how much you love our newest family pictures!!

these days...

2010-02-04T11:40:00.004-05:00

i had planned to run some errands today, but i woke up not feeling so great (sore throat, sinus stuff - yuck!) jesiah and jaelyn also have runny noses. so i decided to take it easy and put those errands off for today and declared it pj day. i do this way too often during the week, it is so much easier to stay home in our jammies on days where we don't have to be anywhere. i finished working on the laundry and making some phone calls, so i thought i would write a post. caution: it is very random, my brain isn't thinking too deep today. but i thought i would fill you in on what is going on around here these days, its been awhile since i was random like this, so here goes....

finally, it's february.... i think january was the first month in a long time that went by kind of slow. i was glad for time to slow down a bit. but why did it have to be during such a cold month of the year? so i am glad that long winter month has come to a close and i am welcoming february because it is a month closer to spring! i long for warm weather!!!

i heart dvr....after not having cable television for seven years, around this time last year we had cable television installed! woo hoo! and just recently we upgraded and now have digital cable and dvr! oh my gosh, how i love dvr. it has so changed how i watch tv!!

bible reading and study....in the fall i did a marriage bible study (love & respect: motivating your man God's way by sarah and emerson eggerichs) led by my friend and amazing leader, lisa shea. last week, i started a new study led by lisa. we are reading a leader in the making by joyce meyer. i am loving this book so far. i am so excited to see how God uses this book in the group of women that are in this study. i have been busy reading the assigned chapters for our study, in fact i have to finish my reading for tonight's meeting. balancing that reading and the new thru 30 reading has been a challenge. thankfully i love to read. i am a day behind on my new thru 30 reading, but i will catch up. this is the last week of the reading. it has gone by fast and i have loved reading the new testament in 30 days.

serving on sundays again...after an extended maternity leave i felt it was the right time to start volunteering again - i was really missing it! towards the end of december i stepped into a new volunteer position at church serving in our children's ministry, ekidz. i am the safari coordinator at the providence campus. the safari area is for our sweet little ones who are 6 weeks through 3 years old. i serve with our volunteer leaders and volunteers making sure that everything is running smoothly in our babies and toddler rooms. i am so excited about this new role and am really enjoying serving in this capacity!

boys & basketball...both of the boys are playing basketball this season, it has kept us busy with two nights a week of practice and saturday games and mixing that with jordyn taking dance one night a week, wow, we are busy! jesiah is kind of getting the hang of the basketball thing. he still likes to do his own thing on the court. but he has come along way since the first game. joshua loves to play and loves to have his daddy as his coach. as for me, as much as i love the boys being involved in sports, i think we may take the spring off. we need some saturdays at home for spring cleaning!!

weekends at elevation....that brings me to what our weekends look like these days. with jamil's role as an armor bearer for our pastor which is saturday night and sunday, and with my new role in ekidz, we get to spend a lot of time at church. i attend the saturday night service at our matthews campus with the kids, while jamil serves. and then on sunday the kids and i head over to our providence campus so i can serve and jamil is with pastor steven. so far, we are all loving our new weekend schedule at church. the kids have so much fun being at church both days! it keeps us busy - but a good kind of busy!

school update...the big kids got their report cards from school last week. they are doing so good in school. we were so pleased with their grades! both josh and jordyn are very bright and school work comes pretty easily to them. i am so thankful for that. they have adjusted to being in school. our brief experience with homeschooling is a distant memory for all of us! i feel so at peace with the decision to put them back in school. we are praying about putting them back into the lottery for union academy again. they both miss their old school and there are some things that i miss about it as well. so we will just see how God leads!

three in school soon....this week is kindergarten registration for the schools in our area. so since jesiah will be five next month he will start kindergarten in the fall! wow! i am registering him at the school the big kids are at. and then if we decide to do the lottery at union academy, and he would happen to get in, he would go there. i just can't believe he will be in school and i will only have one child at home with me. i have no idea what that will look like!!

family photos....you may have seen my last post with the link to our photographer's blog. if you haven't, our new set of family pictures are posted there! please go and check them out and leave a comment on their blog! our last set of pictures received so many comments, that our photographers have challenged us with some prints and discounts if we collect 25 -100 comments on their blog - so when you go there you have to leave a comment on their blog! please pretty please do this for me!!! so go here right now!!!

lots to celebrate this month... so this month is full of special birthdays, special occasions and valentine's day! we will be celebrating a lot and i am looking forward to birthday cake and parties! i am trying to come up with some fun things to do to celebrate valentine's day. if you do something cute with your family, leave me a comment with what you do, i could use some ideas!!!
i hope that you are all enjoying your first week in february!!!

we made another beautiful mess...

2010-02-03T21:31:00.004-05:00

a few weeks ago, we had another fabulous family photo shoot with the amazing daniel and candice lanning (the beautiful mess). i am so excited about our newest set of family pictures. we have such a great time getting our pictures done! seriously. the kids love love daniel and candice and they actually look forward to spending the day with them!! it didn't use to be like that when i would take them to a studio. they would fuss and never cooperate. forget about a good picture no matter how much i would bribe (reward!) the best thing about the lannings is they let my kids be themselves. they let us be a family and they capture such great images!!

some of our pictures are posted on their blog and on my facebook page. but that is really just a few of them. (i will post more of them later.) if you go to the blog, please please pretty please, leave a comment on their blog and let them know what you think of their amazing talent! they are going to give us an incentive for the number of comments we generate on their blog! so fun, but truly from my heart, i just want to send traffic their way! the are so talented and they are growing an amazing business by doing what they love to do! we love the lannings!!!so please let them know that you stopped by to check out our pictures!! but until then,you can go here. you can also go to their blog listed on the sidebar!!

oh and leave me a comment too to let me know what you think!! thank you! i think you will love them as much as i do!!!

being quiet...

2010-02-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

a month ago was the first day of the first month of the new year and as i reflected on the past year, i also looked ahead and made a list of goals for this year. i made goals in several areas of my life; personal, marriage, parenting, home and finances.

at the top of my list in the personal category is to spend more time being quiet. as i go throughout my days, i realize several days have gone by and i haven't had a true time of peace and quiet. i haven't had time to reflect or really think. during each day, my mind goes in a million different directions at a very fast pace. and i realized that i need to spend some time each day just being quiet. time that i can just slow down and spend time reading and or praying or just soaking in the silence!

i have found that being intentional about fitting this into my day (or night - whenever i can!) makes such a difference in my mood and that helps keep our family and our home much happier.

over this past month, i have spent a lot of my quiet time reading the new thru 30 assignments. i have so enjoyed fulfilling the goal of reading the new testament in 3o days! God has spoken to me in so many ways and has taught me so much. it has been a great way to start off the new year and my quiet times!!

fifteen months old...

2010-01-31T09:23:00.002-05:00

jaelyn turned fifteen months on january 6. so she is actually closer to sixteen months. but since we had her fifteen month check up a few weeks ago. i wanted to share an update about her sweet little self! i have included a few pictures, i have been really bad about not taking pictures this month. that will have to change!

her well check went great!! she continues to be so healthy!! no problems or complaints, although she didn't like getting her shots this time at all. she did that silent scream and cry, mouth wide open that just breaks your heart - yes, that one. but i was able to easily distract her and it didn't last too long.

here are her stats...
weight 19 lbs 4 oz 0-5%
height 31 inches 75%

she is a little peanut, weighing barely anything, only nineteen pounds! her growth chart continues to go up each time so our doctor has no worries! she is just tiny... and tall!!! jaelyn's carseat is still rear facing because of her being under twenty pounds! and in this picture above she is wearing a little buzz lightyear costume that belongs to one of jesiah's build a bear pets! ha!!

jaelyn is a busy bee! she is all over the place and into everything. i can barely get her to be still enough for a picture. so that is her above taking off down the hallway!!! i see a lot of that these days! ha!!!

although when she feels like it she will pose and say cheese!!

she loves to eat and is usually a pretty good eater. she loves bananas!! calls them "nanas"

jaelyn is a great talker. she says close to 40 words already and is learning a new one each day. she learned this over the weekend...

snow!

isn't her voice so stinking sweet!!!???

jaelyn is such a happy baby girl! even though she is more like a toddler, i am still calling her my baby and will for awhile!!! she continues to bring so much love and joy to our family. i am so thankful for her sweet little self!! i can't believe she will be sixteem months in a few days!

snow day saturday...

2010-01-30T16:01:00.004-05:00

i know it has been awhile since i have posted, its not like me to go over a week without saying something. it always feels awkward to post again after some time of silence! kind of like those awkward silences in uncomfortable converstaions.
but like i said in the previous post, i have had a hard time getting my thoughts
into a post. so i took a little break and i am back today, with not much to say, but i have a picture!!!so here goes...

we woke up to a little bit of snow covering the ground this morning.
not as much as expected, but enough for the kids to go out and play in it.
after bundling them up, they headed out, played a little bit
and then made their way down to my parents for some hot cocoa!
jamil and i really don't like the cold weather and we chose to watch them from the window!

jamil headed off to church tonight but i am going to stay in where it is warm
and off the roads, they aren't so great in our area.
i made some soup, so we will have that with some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and maybe some yummy chocolate chip cookies for dessert!
i don't like to miss church and love going to our saturday night worship experience but the thought of getting all the kids bundled up and heading out own my own just seems like a lot.
plus even though i am from up north, i don't like driving in the mess!

i hope that you are all enjoying your snow day saturday or whatever it is like where you live!
happy weekend!!

it's good to be back!

nothing

2010-01-21T13:10:00.003-05:00

sometimes i feel like i just have nothing.

nothing to share.

my hands are so full, so is my heart.
my mind constantly races
and can't wait to cross the finish line called, "bedtime"

lists, projects, spills, meals, homework, laundry....it goes on and on

barely a quiet minute to stop, collect my thoughts and reflect.
let alone share.
but i have so much to say.

when i haven't a minute to spare, time to stop or hands to type, my mind,
my heart is racing with things to share like there is a whole world who wants to hear.

as soon as i sit down to pull out those thoughts that were racing through my mind
just hours ago are gone.
gone.
just as quickly as my babies have turned to toddler, preschoolers and school age kids.

but my heart is overflowing with so much joy and it wants to share all that i am learning about being
a follower of Christ.
a wife.
a mom.
a friend.
a sister.
a daughter.
a servant.

so, when the time comes why do i feel like i have nothing.
nothing to share.

dear Lord, please give me the words to share all the things that are on my heart. let them be heard, if only to help just one other. Lord, use me so that i can be your son's hands and feet. let me be one of the many lights that shine for your glory. it's in your name that i pray. amen.

captive...

2010-01-15T15:24:00.003-05:00

i have dedicated this past week to organizing our home, i have rarely left the house and have just dug in and focused on my to-do lists. i have been kinda held captive by my own will. i have gotten a lot done and it feels good, but i have a lot more to do. i have realized my job as a wife and mom is never done. there is always something that has to be done! but, it has been great to get a good jump on it. but not leaving the house is a different story. i have spent many days in my pj's or some comfy clothes. there is just something about getting everyone ready and out of the house that takes so much time and really cuts into my day. scheduling the perfect time to get out of the house between jaelyn's nap schedule and meals and being home fore the school bus, it is tricky. so staying close to home has given me a great start to getting my house in order. i plan to continue making it my main focus this month, but next week, we will be leaving the house a little more!

hopefully once i can get my house squared away, my blogging will be a little bit better too! i haven't spent much time online this week and i miss it, but boy if i even get on the computer for a little while, that turns into an hour or more very quickly! so if my posts are far and few between or lacking in content, know that i am busy getting my house in shape!

if any of you know of any good blogs/websites that offer useful suggestions for organizing and decorating please leave me a comment with those suggestions!

bookmark in my bible...

2010-01-14T13:49:00.004-05:00

dear Lord,
it's such a hectic day,
with little time to stop and pray,
for life's been anything but calm
since you called me to be a mom -
running errands,
matching socks,
building dreams with wooden blocks,
cooking,
cleaning,
finding shoes
and other stuff that children lose,
fitting lids on bottled bugs,
wiping tears
and giving hugs,
a stack of last week's mail to read -
so where's the quiet time i need?
yet, when i steal a moment, Lord,
just at the sink or ironing board,
to ask the blessings of Your grace,
i see then, in my my small one's face,
that you have blessed me all the while-
and i stop to kiss that precious smile.

Amen.

**this sweet little prayer is written out on a bookmark that i have in my bible. as i have been reading the new testament every day this week as part of new thru 30 with my church, i have looked at it a few times. i did not write this poem, it was printed out and given to the moms in my mops group at the end of our first {or second} year. that specifid group is no longer gathering, but i was the coordinator for two of the four years it did meet. i have fond memories of the group, made some wonderful friendships, and witnessed God do some amazing things. this book mark not only has a fitting poem but is a little souvenir of a sweet time in my life, not only attending mops but being a part of the founding group and seeing it grow! mops is a wonderful ministry used to build and equip mothers of preschoolers**

cloth diapering revisited...

2010-01-13T06:10:00.001-05:00

it's something i like to talk about.
a lot.
almost as much as birth stories, pregnancy and little bundles of joy.
almost but not quite.
...and i have had several people ask me about our cloth diapering experience as of late,
so i thought i would give a little update.

we have been using cloth diapers (bum genius 3.0 and happy heiny's) for about nine months.

we have fifteen diapers and that has been a great number of diapers for us. i think we started with twelve and added three. i had planned to work my way to 18, but never did.

we started this adventure when jaelyn was six months old. i have really really liked doing it.

when we started, i was nervous that i wouldn't stick to it. but after the initial investment, i couldn't turn back. i never even thought about it. really i didn't. ok well maybe on that one day when i had no clean diapers in the house and was afraid to put jaelyn in a disposable.

jaelyn's awful diaper rash that started this whole thing, completely healed and never came back. oh except one day when i did put on a pampers diaper and her bottom broke out within two hours of wearing it. i was bummed!

over the last two months or so, we did started using disposable diapers (huggies) at night because her diapers were leaking and waking her up. i did get the leaking under control by stripping the diapers (soaking in cold water and dawn dish detergent) and adjusting the fit and number of inserts. but i have continued to use the disposables at night. i have also started using them when we go out, because i can fit several more disposable diapers in my diaper bag than cloth. and also, if she were to have a number 2 out in public or for our sweet nursery volunteers - oh. my.

i must say cloth diapering and solid food number twos are not the greatest thing. that is pretty messy. but that would be the only negative. the extra laundry hasn't even really bothered me. i am at the point now where i am never caught up on laundry so what is a few extra loads in a week. this is my washing routine; i wash every two or three days now. i use country save detergent and have loved it! i bought a box when i started and am just now ready to buy another box. i start by doing a cold rinse, then i wash in hot with 1/4 of a scoop of detergent and rinse in cold. if they diapers need a little extra "cleaning, stain or scent removal" i will add a 1/4 scoop of oxy clean - works wonders! and then i do a final cold rinse. i do dry them in the dryer. if it is a nice day i will hang them out to dry. we haven't had too many nice days though ~ frozen cloth diapers wouldn't be fun!

so, that's where we are with our cloth diapers. still doing it and still loving it! and jaelyn is doing great with it too! i plan to continue until it is time to potty train her.

you can revisit my first few posts on cloth diapering here, here and here,

oh and if i didn't answer a question you had in mind, leave a comment and i will be glad to give you the best answer i can!

2009 turned out just fine...

2010-01-12T07:57:00.001-05:00

on new years day, i sat down to reflect and in my journal write out some highlights of 2009, i realized that the last time i wrote in my journal was exactly one year prior, when i wrote down my highlights of 2008. i read over them, and wow, 2008 was a great year for us. and that brought me to reflecting on 2009.

we started the year with the prase "God will blow our mind in 2009" it was a good year and God provided in a way that we could never imagine, and He did blow our mind. but when it came to making this "list", i just couldn't come up with nearly as many highlights as i did in 2008. i kind of got bummed because as i attempted to make a list in any kind of comparison to the prior year, i just couldn't. but i still couldn't overlook that 2009 was full of a lot of learning opportunities. there was a lot of growth for me but not a lot of highlights that i can put into a list. i have come to accept that each year looks different and God does different things in different ways.

so i will not attempt to make a list of highlights for 2009. i will just give a year in review in a few sentences.

in 2009, we adjusted to being a family of SIX! wow, i can not believe that we have six people in our "little" family! God has blessed us with four beautiful & healthy children. i thoroughly enjoyed every single day that led up to my sweet baby girl turning one. i seriously could not imagine my life and our family without jaelyn.

in 2009, we were honored to have seen God moving in a mighty way in our church. not for one day have we taken for granted the fact that God brought us to elevation for a reason and we are honored to have a front row seat and be very involved as leaders. we have witnessed life change and growth. we continue to be amazed at how God works through our pastor.

in 2009, we learned a lot about our family, our faith, our finances, our relationships and our purpose! it was a year of seeking and God has given us so much! He has provided for us in ways we couldn't even dream of. and just when we thought we came up with a big plan, His plan was even bigger! He has been so good to us and we haven't taken it for granted.

so there you have it a reflection on the past year and on to looking ahead to what God will show us in 2010! He made it great in 2008, blew our minds in 2009 and taking us further than we have ever been in 2010!

new year, new week, new thru 30...

2010-01-11T20:51:00.004-05:00

as we begin this second full week of a new year, i am hoping that it is a little less uneventful than the last week! with all the bad news and events from last week, i got thrown off track and a lot of things really fell behind. so i will attempt to catch up this week in so many areas of my everyday life!

in the midst of the disappointment and loss over the last two weeks, there are a lot of exciting things going on too! one thing that i am super excited about is the new series we are doing at church. as a church, we are reading the new testament in thirty days. the sermon series is called "new thru 30". there are a lot of other churches that have joined in on this with us. i just love that our church shares the resources they create. they have made the reading plan available on the website, so why don't you join in and take the challenge too, you can go here for the reading plan. you can also go here and here to read more about this series! i can not wait to see what God shows me through His word!

let me know if you plan to join in on the fun!

a big milestone...

2010-01-09T15:44:00.005-05:00

in early december, jaelyn took a few steps to me a few different times and then just like that she decided she didn't want to walk. every time i would encourage her to walk, she would just sit down and not even try. oh well i knew she would do it when she was ready! that is one thing you learn about your child especially after having four of them and they are all different and learn things in their own time!

on the day after christmas, we had moved the coffee table and some furniture out of the way so the kids could play the wii. and just like that she started letting go of the couch and walking toys and took a few steps. then jamil and i had her walk to each of us a few times. and then before we knew it by that afternoon she was completely walking with no assistance all over the living room.

(i took this video a few days after she started walking, we didn't tell my parents or grandparents and when they came over she "surprised" them! oh and please ignore my obnoxious voice - wow!)

this is what i call a new kind of busy! wowzers, this sweet baby girl is keeping me on my toes. she is as busy as ever and into everything. this is honestly one time i am so thankful to have a one story home! i don't have to worry about her being around stairs. i do have to make sure that all of the doors to the bedrooms, bathrooms and the laundry room are closed. that in itself keeps me busy, because the bigger kids are in and out and forget to shut them!

(this video i took when we went to discovery place last week, she was walking everywhere with my phone in her hand! ha! just like mommy!)

so there you have it, my sweet jaelyn is officially a toddler! i am so thankful for her and for how healthy and how active she is! i don't take running after her for granted at all. i am blessed to be so tired at night!! she turned 15 months a few days ago, and i am telling you the last 15 months although hectic and with a lot of adjustment, have been so full of joy because of her!

oh and a huge milestone for me...these are the first hom videos i have posted on my blog! i figured it out! wooo hooo! my new flip camcorder made it way easy!!! i love that thing!

fresh start...

2010-01-08T16:13:00.008-05:00

update: i published this post and then saw a powerful scripture of hope and love on a friend's twitter that i just had to include in this post!

i really do have so much to say and planned to publish a few posts this week, but as you can tell that never happened. i think the whole getting back into the routine, reflecting on 2009, setting goals for 2010, getting my house back in order and just "doing life"took a lot more time than i had planned.

when a new year begins i have this "fresh start" mentality. i plan all of these projects and things to organize and then by the end of the first full week my house is messier than when i started, well it is kind of like that this week. so i am spending less time writing and more time fixing up the mess i have created so i can get really organized! this week i have been working on everyone's clothing; their closets & drawers. i have been taking out stuff that isn't fitting or appropriate for the season, which is quite cold this week! i have made a huge dent in that project and almost done. now, i just have to figure out what to do with all of the bins full of clothes!

the idea of a "fresh start", also applies to my personal life. i think and reflect on the past year, and then i think about the new year and about the personal goals i would like to accomplish. so i have spent time reflecting on my life and what God is showing me. we have also set some goals for our family and our home this year! i am sure some of that will eventually make it into another post.

amongst all of this "fresh start" stuff, we have had a pretty rough week with some not so "fresh" stuff. it started when my sister moved back to pittsburgh last week, i was so sad to see her go, she has been living her almost two years, but she headed back there for a fresh start for herself. so i have been missing having here with us. i am happy for her but sad for me. then, jamil's aunt who is also our neighbor passed away on wednesday. after beating breast cancer, they found out she had stage 4 liver cancer a few weeks ago and she wasn't strong enough for chemo. her body had enough. so she went to be with the Lord. and the night before she passed away, jamil's grandmother (also his aunt's mother) had a stroke and went into the hospital. at first they thought it was a mild stroke and she would come home the next day. but last night we found out it was a full stroke and she has a completely blocked artery. things don't look so great for her. she is 92 years old and there is not much they can do for her at this point. we know God has a plan and if it is for her to go home to Him, then that is what is best.

so far the first week of the new year hasn't been the best one. i hope to return to blogging next week and be able to share some much lighter happier stuff. but for now this is the life we are living a little hectic, full of grief and lots of uncertainty. i am hoping that next week will be more like a do over kind of week and a true "fresh start".

have a great weekend and i hope that this first full week of 2010 has been a true fresh start for you!!

"But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me
& through each night I sing His songs,
praying to God who gives me life." psalm 42:8

five hundred (plus one)...

2010-01-06T21:03:00.007-05:00

happy, happy five hundred posts to me and my little blog!!

to celebrate the occasion, i am going to post a few little facts and some thoughts i have on my blog and on blogging...

a few quick facts...

...i have posted five hundred posts (plus one) on my blog as of this past weekend. blog posts 500 & 501 were posts closing out 2009 with christmas pictures. what fabulous timing. i could not have planned that better myself. oh and i didn't, that was completely unplanned. but oh how fun!!

...i do have 50 (yes i typed 50 "5-0") posts in draft form that i need to polish and post. they are full of random ideas that i have started but never completed. i will have to work on those, i am sure that they will not all make it to published form, but what a good start for a new year of blogging!!

...i started my blog in june 2007. i officially wrote and published my first post on blogger on june 28, 2007. in may 2007, i actually started keeping a blog on my space, (remember when that was "cool"?) i wrote a few posts there and liked it so much i started my very own blog! a few months ago, i went back to my space and copied and pasted those blog posts and created posts here, they are still in my draft box. i will have to publish those soon!

...when i first started blogging, my blog was called "my j crew" which is our family nickname. last year i changed it to its current title "more than we can imagine". also, i have changed my background and layouts more times than i can keep up with!

...i love reading blogs too! i have 75 blogs that i follow/subscribe to on google reader. i have some blogs listed on my side bars. i am continually adding new ones to my reader and they don't always make it to the side bar. if you don't see yours there and would like me to read yours, leave me a comment and let me know! i would love to come and visit your blog. that is how i have found a lot of the blogs that i read, by bloggers who leave me comments! i have met lots of people through the bloggy world. i think it is so much fun meeting and learning about other women and how they are living out their lives as wives, moms and daughters of Christ.

...i decided to start a blog for a few reasons. i actually think i have a post in a draft form that expresses the reasons why i blog, but until i get that posted... i enjoy writing. i enjoy sharing what i have learned in hopes that it will help my reader in whatever way. i love showing off pictures of my kiddos and tell stories about my family and everyday life. i use my blog as a way to "scrapbook & journal". i also do some creative writing. i truly enjoy sharing God's word. i seek to praise Him in all that i write. i also love to share how He is at work in and around me. i can't imagine not having a relationship with Him, i don't know how i would survive each and every day without Him. especially when it comes to mothering my children. i know that God is using and will continue to use my blog to bless another woman. i see my blog as a ministry and am constantly seeking how He would use me through my blog.

so that was a little bit about my blog...

ok, here is where you come in, i need your help... please do me a favor if you have never left me a comment, but read my blog, please leave me one. i'd love to know you were here! and if you have left a comment before, feel free to leave me another one. i love reading your comments. i also love to leave comments and do so regularly!

one thing that i am all about is being transparent and real, and i do that the best way i can, but i am wondering, is there something i haven't shared on my blog that you would like to know about leave me a comment and ask me, i will try my best to answer it!!

thank you so much for reading my blog! i do hope that you will come back again!

christmas eve & christmas day...

2010-01-02T11:05:00.010-05:00

here are a few pictures from christmas eve and then christmas day...

i found myself ready to move on beyond the christmas posts this morning and ready to focus on the new year and what lies ahead.
we did thoroughly enjoy our time together as a family during the christmas vacation. we did a lot of just relaxing and being together!

i think the pictures will tell the story themselves, no writing necessary...

our first christmas celebration...

2010-01-02T10:15:00.008-05:00

like most families, we celebrate christmas over several days and with several different gatherings. so i am going to break apart our christmas celebrations into several different posts.

a few days before christmas, we get together with my parents and sister. my parents travel to maryland to spend christmas eve and christmas day with my granparents.

so we do christmas a little early!

after eating a big dinner, (raviolis and meatballs this year - yummy!) the kids get to open their presents from my parents and my sister.
this year my parents had the kids go on a treasure hunt, following clues, until they got to their big present...

a wii!

super excited and surprised to get a wii!!

it was so much fun to watch them find their big present from my parents.

just as fun was to watch jaelyn with her presents

at first she wasn't so sure about unwrapping them

with a little help from her siblings

she got the hang of it!
here she is with her little ride on pony!! so cute!

and like most babies....
she equally enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper and empty boxes

here she is playing with the box to our new flip camcorder - my big surprise!

my sister gave the kids some great gifts too...

up next...christmas eve & christmas morning!!!

happy happy new year!!!

2010-01-01T11:03:00.006-05:00

He made it great in 2008

He blew our minds in 2009

and now we are looking forward to

Him taking us further than we have ever been in 2010!!!

its going to be an amazing year

here is to God's faithfulness and many blessings in this new decade...

happy happy new year to you!

**we have had a fabulous christmas and new year, i look forward to sharing it all with you soon, i am enjoying a few last days of a blogging break and i will be back early next week!!**

merry merry christmas!

2009-12-24T22:12:00.002-05:00

we have had an amazing two days celebrating christmas at elevation church! i love love my church and would have no other place we would rather be! its been a busy two days, but i have enjoyed every minute of it. and the kids have too! what an honor to have a front row seat to the amazing things God is doing in my church! i love it!

it is christmas eve and i am waiting on the kids to fall fast asleep so i can begin to wrap their presents, nothing like waiting to the last minute, huh?

i just wanted to wish each an everyone of you a very merry christmas! i hope that you enjoy celebrating the true meaning of the season.

i may post some christmas pics and a short post here and there... but i will be taking a little blogging break until the new year! wow! 2010 is just around the corner!!

psalm 126:3

2009-12-19T21:15:00.004-05:00

the Lord has been good to us and we are filled with joy!
psalm 126:3

our christmas card

if you are anything like me, you probably don't have much time to read long posts if any at all, so i have been trying and will continue to keep mine short and sweet. this one is a little lengthy, but it does have a point!

from this weekend forward, it is going to be the last stretch of the race for me, as i am sure it is going to be for you as well. it has been a busy week (busy month!) and this next week will be too! we have a lot of fun things going on this weekend and this week, i am looking forward to all of it. but i know it is going to be lightning speed from here on out. honestly, i am really looking forward to getting to christmas day and just enjoying our family. until then, i will be hanging on while this week flies by and trying to keep the true meaning of christmas at the heart of it all.

i think i told you before i knew that before we even started this month, we had literally two, yes only two days, that we had nothing scheduled. the first day was during the first week of the month. the second day was this past thursday. and that quickly changed!

i will back up to tuesday, when my sister called me to let me know that she was scheduling a hair appointment for me on thursday morning for my christmas present. i was soooo excited. she even arranged for childcare for my kiddos who would be home that morning. so thursday morning started out with a much needed haircut - i am so grateful that my sister thought of that for me! that afternoon, i found out that our good friend's were in need of prayer and encouragement. so that evening, jamil went over to their home with a group of other men from our church and they prayed for this special family. both great things but our one remaining free day wasn't free anymore.

on thursday, jesiah and jaelyn both started running fevers again. i started to realize that my plans for the next day would probably change. i had a babysitter lined up so that i could go out for the day and knock out all our christmas shopping without kids. on friday morning, which i might add was miserable weather wise (freezing rain and very cold), both kids were still feeling yucky and running fevers. so, i had to cancel our babysitter and began calling our doctor's. finally, i got threw, two hours later, because their phones were down,and got sick appointments for them. i most certainly would have rather been shopping than taking my kids to the doctors. as much as i love our pediatricians, i was ready to get the shopping done!

i must say i was pretty stressed out about the change in plans. i had no idea how it would all get done. i was also stressed out to have to pay nearly two hundred dollars in copays and prescriptions. but my kids were sick and i had to do it. jesiah had a sinus infection and jaelyn had an ear infection. i was in a pretty grumpy mood because of all of this.

friday. was also our ten year anniversary (which i have failed to post about like i said, ooops) and everything was going wrong. by late afternoon, i knew i had to stop stressing out and change my attitude! that was when i realized that i could still do my shopping online and it would get here by christmas (hopefully ;) so, my mother in law took the three big kids to her house for the evening. jaelyn went to bed early and jamil and i had a date night "in". he went to chili's and got some food to go - yum! then we spent the evening ordering the kids' christmas gifts from our comfortable warm home. i began to fight the enemy and realize that God was still at work. even though my day had fallen apart, He was still at work. and things were going to be ok! i just had to let go of all the yuck of the day that was thrown my day. i had to choose to praise Him! i had to focus on the joy that i have in Him! and know that He always provides for us! He is so good!

i was so thankful that we had the money to be able to take care of our kids' medical needs. the money came out of what we planned to spend for christmas, but i was ok with that, we just cut back what we planned to buy for the kids and i found some really good deals online! i realized quickly my kids could be lying in a hospital and really truly sick and it could be costing me a whole lot more. i was so thankful that my day was so miserable because i was able to see how He really provides. i sat in my warm home out of the rain ordering christmas presents from the internet. how dare i complain again about things not going my way. i had to look at all i have and not at what i don't have. He is showing me how to have a simple christmas after all! i am keeping things in perspective and choosing to find joy in everything good and not so good!

so this morning i was able to go out and knock off several more things off of my shopping list. jamil stayed home with the kids so they could continuing getting well. so now, i am almost done with everything! i did have a minor set back when i went to get our christmas cards, but we were able to fix it.

i have no idea when or how i will be able to keep my posts going through this busy week. so it may be kind of quiet around here! i have lots of things i want to post, but not sure if it will happen.

so what about you how have you seen God work in your busy life this christmas season? are you choosing joy over stress? i know it is hard! but give it a try!

a peek into our home for the holidays...

2009-12-17T07:27:00.008-05:00

with trying to keep things simple during this christmas season. simple is also how i choose to decorate our home. with having four young kids in a small home, i don't like to have a lot of things around that can get broken. i really like clean lines and a simple look. but i still want our home to look festive. i thought i would share how i have decorated our home. i am also participating in the nester's tour of homes 2009 - better late than never!

welcome to our home...

my mom is the queen at making my wreaths and bows!
she is my personal wreath and bow maker!!
she made this wreath last year for our front door.
i loved it so much that i wanted to use it again this year.

our foyer...

our one and only christmas tree...

i think i mentioned the fact that i considered not getting a tree this year. but i decided it just wouldn't be christmas without one! we only have one tree. i know lots of people have several. maybe one year i will do that but for now, i am good with having just one tree! we went this past weekend to lowe's to get our tree. we literally had 10 trees to choose from, oh well, it isn't the prettiest tree but it is ours and the kids and i had a great time decorating it. i would love to make a trip to the mountains next year to get our tree ~ maybe next year we can start that tradition!

take notice to how bare the bottom of our tree is! can you guess why?

our mantle (minus the stockings)...

our stocking holders are a very heavy pewter and i decided against doing stockings for the fear of our 14 month old pulling one of them down and hurting herself. last year one got knocked off of the mantle and it put a crack into the fireplace tile. so i didn't put up our stockings. we also need some new stockings. i would like to find some and have them embroidered with our names for next year!

above the armoire...

please excuse the mess!

our dining room table

the plate reads psalm 126:3, our special christmas verse!!

archway between kitchen and great room...

above is how i decorated the counter that is in the archway.
it was a little cluttered for me! a lot of things end up on this counter because it is in a central location so i simplified it. took away the angels, the gold canister, and changed out the candle.
now it looks like this...

a lot more functional and simple!

thanks for taking a sneak peek into our little home!

almost wordless wednesday...

2009-12-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

the reason why the bottom half of our christmas tree is bare...

yesterday she discovered that the ornaments come off of the tree and now she is curious!
let the fun begin!

super fun, super easy handmade ornaments....

2009-12-15T14:19:00.010-05:00

every year for christmas i like make ornaments. i think that a handmade, personalized ornament is a great little gift. i just love using all kinds of ornaments, flat glass or ceramic (in different shapes) or glass ball ornaments or wooden shapes that you find in a craft store for pretty cheap! so,i thought i would share a few ideas that i have used over the years.

personalized glass balls...

i found the idea for these on several different blogs. they are so easy and are so cute! so last week i gave it a try. i am super pleased with how these turned out. here is how i made mine.

~ fill a glass ball (frosted or clear will work) with paper shred in whatever color you chose.
~ tie coordinating ribbon on the top
~ using letter stickers you can spell out a name or you can do initials or one letter for a last name

i made these for my girls, with each of their names in different color schemes. i also made a few more for some special gifts! jordyn did a great job helping me fill the balls with the paper shred. her fingers are smaller than mine and easier to push the paper in the little hole.

paint drip swirl balls...

for several years, i have used the clear glass balls to make these pretty ornaments. they are so fun and so pretty. the colors swirl around so nice. they are super easy also. here is how you can make these...

~using a clear glass ball, you drip a few colors of your choice of acrylic paint into the ball.
run the paint down the side of the ball.
~rotate the ball every 15 - 30 min. giving the paint a chance to drip and swirl inside the ball.
~tie ribbon on the top or through the little wire hanger.

our family ornaments...

a few years ago, amy and i started getting together to make ornaments. and each year we do something similar but with a different twist. we make between 10-15 ornaments that we give as gifts, primarily to our families. using different types of ornaments we create a "picture of our family" here are the ornaments we have made over the last few years.

2004

i think this is the first "family ornament" we made.
the snowmen were made out of jordyn and joshua's littl thumbprints placed onto a bell shaped glass ornament. at one time it was filled with fake snow,
but i think it "melted" with a little person's help :)

2005

here we used shrinky dinks (remember those?) to create this ornament. we had done a craft in our mops group with shrinky dinks and that gave us this idea. this is a little more complicated than the glass ornaments. but really cute. we cut the shrinky dinks in two shapes (tree & square) then we drew our family and wrote on the shrinky dinks. we punched wholes in the tree and on the square. we baked the shrinky dink paper. then using craft wire we hung the little ornament charms and bells from the holes. that was really quick directions, if you would like to give it a try, let me know, i can explain it better!

2006

using a flat glass ornament (circle) we used the kids fingerprint's again to make snowmen. this time we have three!! then on the back of the ornament we painted the tree. and used a sponge to create "snow" on the front.

2007

for this one we used wooden ornaments (snowflakes) first we painted it white. after it dried we used the kid's fingerprints to make reindeer!

2008

here we used a flat ceramic star ornament. we used the kids' fingerprints and made them into little angels. look at how little jaelyn's fingerprint is.

i love to look back at each year and see how their fingerprints have grown! and how we have added new fingerprints over the years! i give these to my family each year. it is like a tradition we have started. i was so excited this year, amy and i made ours on veteran's day (nov. 11) when her son and my kids had the day off of school. we were ahead of the game this year. i will post a picture of this years ornament later. if i post it now, it will not be a surprise to my family who reads my blog!

so, what about you? do you like to make ornaments? if you have any fun or different ways to create ornaments for the holidays, please feel free to share your ideas, if you posted an idea on your blog - please leave the link!

easy kids' crafts...

2009-12-15T14:00:00.007-05:00

a few saturdays ago, jamil was working all day and at church all evening so we had our sweet babysitter, johanna, come on friday and sleep over to be here with us on saturday! she watched the kid's while we had a date night on friday and then was here to help me with the kids all day on saturday. my goal was to decorate that day for christmas. so i got some things for the kids to make some crafts. they were busy making some cute things while i was busy decorating! and johanna was here to do whatever i needed help with! we love her to pieces!!

first, this $5 box of snowmen are so cute and my kids love them. we made a few different crafts and continues to keep them busy. there are little white snowmen shapes and then all different glittery colored hats, scarves and mittens. so the kids "built" their own snowmen!

they made cards, ornaments and gift bags with these! here are a few examples....

jesiah gave his ornament to johanna, he didn't want to wait until closer to christmas, he is just like his mommy! we simply built the snowman onto a flat glass star shaped ornament - easy! the big kids made those for their teachers. we are giving their teachers a few different handmade ornaments.

they also made these cute and easy snowflake ornaments using glittery pipe cleaners and beads:

this is jordyn's elevation sign made out of pipe cleaners!

they also made some things using popsicle sticks too, but i don't have a picture. they used the sticks to create a "frame" and put a snowman on a piece of cardstock.

i found large snowman foam bodies that we had from a craft from a few years ago, so they decorated those...

they had a great time creating all kinds of things and did it pretty much all day, that let me get a lot of decorating done!! i love that my kids love to do crafts!!

monday ramblings...

2009-12-14T13:05:00.004-05:00

wow! it's monday again. only 11 days until christmas. that is crazy. we had a very busy weekend. the boys both had their first basketball games of the season. and jesiah's first game ever which deserves a post of it's own. we got our tree this weekend, finally. we put it up and now there is a leak in the stand and the throw rugs we put the stand on are soaking wet. so now we have to figure out how to get an already decorated tree into a new stand. fun times! it is always something at our house!

on friday, jaelyn woke up with a cold. and by that afternoon she had a fever. that makes five out of six of us who have this cold. i wish the germs would go away. i also wish the sun would come out. it is so dreary and cold here. very unlike our usual weather in the south. i think it has been over a week since the sun has made it's appearance.

on friday night we attended a leadership event with our church. it was such an amazing night. we continue to see God do huge things in our church! fortunately my mom kept jaelyn so that i could go. what a blessing. i will share the details in another post of how God is working!!

i was not able to go to church this weekend because of jaelyn being sick. bummer. i was getting ready to go yesterday to serve in a new volunteer role but she was just miserable. her fever was gone but she was a mess. i knew i couldn't take her to church like that. although, i knew that our wonderful nursery volunteers would have loved on her and cared for her, i knew she was best at home with me. i was sad to miss my first day volunteering, but there is always next week! as i am typing this i realized that i haven't told you about what i am doing at our church now. but i think i will save that for a post of its own!

have you sensed a common theme here, i keep telling you about little things that are going on and giving you no details! sorry about that! i guess i am setting myself up for lots of good writing material! hopefully i will have the time to follow through!

i didn't really have a point to this post other than to catch you up on a few things that are going on here. i realize i haven't posted much about christmas plans or traditions. i haven't even posted any pictures of any of our celebrating either. i guess i better get busy on that too.

thus far for christmas, we have done a little bit of decorating, some craft making, barely any baking and zero christmas shopping. i plan to do my shopping this weekend. nothing like the last minute, huh? so how about you have you done your shopping yet?

i am off the baby is waking up and i realized we haven't eaten lunch yet or gotten dressed! its been one of those days. i do have hopes of writing some more posts later for this week! hope you have a great week!

stressing over trying not to be stressed...

2009-12-10T07:00:00.003-05:00

we try to keep things really simple around here during the christmas season. that doesn't mean that we are not celebrating this season, we celebrate it big, by remembering the true meaning of christmas. we don't do a lot of buying of stuff. we do crafts, baking and other acts of kindness as part of our giving. i thought that keeping it simple would be easy, but it is still hard to try to keep it that way. its till hard to do all of those simple things when there is always so much to do.

i so desire to not be stressed this time of year. i am finding that i am running out of time to do even the simple things on my list. and my lists keep getting shorter and shorter as i realize that everyday is a day less on the "christmas countdown". i keep crossing off things that are not must do's or must have's or must go's.

everyday life just doesn't stop to celebrate christmas. i can't exchange my daily to do list for the christmas to do list like i wish i could. the laundry doesn't stay clean and put away. dishes don't disappear. kids still have places to go. errands have to be done. bills have to be paid. food has to be planned and prepared even if it is frozen pizzas.

and then yesterday this happened...

and today, i have yet to clean it up. its just a big huge mess in the girl's closet. jordyn attempted to climb onto the shelf and the whole thing broke and fell down. so until the shelf is replaced i can not put all of that stuff back in its place. sigh! i know i could have it a lot worse right now!

but it is a another thing to take care of while i am stressing over not trying to be stressed out this christmas season! i am trying to keep my cool and have a good attitude! i really am!!

i keep telling myself it is going to be ok. things will get done. christmas will be celebrated. but it is hard to keep from wondering how? and i just want it to be simple and come from the right place. but that still presents a challenge!

does anyone else feel challenged by what they have to do this time of year?

an awesome giveaway...

2009-12-09T16:55:00.001-05:00

one of my very favorite bloggers, kelly at kelly's korner is giving away a brand new hp computer(touch smar!) to enter the giveaway, go here

what an awesome christmas giveaway, how fun would that be to win a new computer! i would love love it!! how about you!???!!!???

wordless wednesday...

2009-12-09T10:27:00.001-05:00

...and yes, the kid on the right is my four year old boy! ha!

14 months old & more...

2009-12-08T10:44:00.003-05:00

so, it is just 17 days before christmas, how are you all feeling about that? wow!!! i have so many plans and so much to do, but things are slowly getting removed from my to do list if they don't rank in the top important things to do - ya know?

i know i say this a lot, so much that you are probably tired of reading it. but i just have to say it again, where does the time go? yesterday, went by at super sonic speed. i was talking to amy and she was saying how she had fed her girls lunch and i was thinking wow, its like 10 am she is feeding them early. then i looked at the clock and it was almost noon. and the rest of the afternoon flew by too. i met jamil at our church office so he could take the kids home so i could go in for a meeting. and then jesiah had his first basketball practice last night. he took josh along too, so my sister stayed with the girls until i got home. a lot of juggling. and we even missed jordyn's dance class because she was home sick yesterday. how would i have done all of that?

i kept jordyn home from school, she has a cold. she is somewhat better and does not have a fever so she went today. i thought yesterday she may end up running a fever like jesiah did the day before, but she didn't. but now i have a cold too! it just doesn't seem to end. and i just can't get sick we have such a busy busy schedule. we usually don't jam pack a month like we have this month, so i know it is short term, but wow, my head is spinning.

there is so much great stuff going on, and there is some stress surrounding it all. although, i am truly trying to focus on the season and the true meaning and not on what i have to cross off my list! even keeping it simple, there are still things i desire to do to celebrate the season. i wish i could just wiggle my nose and it all get done!! i am sure you do too!!!

almost looks like jaelyn is wiggling her nose for me!!

who knows how much time will pass before i can post again! but before the day goes by, i have to tell you about my sweet baby girl. she turned fourteen months on sunday, here are some pictures and a little bit about what she is up to this days...
so on sunday, even though we couldn't go to church i put her in this cute dress so that i could take a few pictures on her 14 month birthday! i took a few shots and then my battery died, but i have 2 to share!! this one and the one below are my favorites!!

jaelyn is such a super sweet, super smart, super adorable baby girl!
she is sleeping pretty good, still taking two naps during the day and sleeping mostly through the night. we still have a few nights when she will wake up but overall sleeping great!

jaelyn's vocabulary is increasing, she is constantly learning and saying new words. in addition to momma and dadda, she can "say" all her siblings names! she also says pop-pop for her grand daddy, we are working on "meemee or grandma" and aunt julie! she points to things and tries to say what they are. like cup, cracker, ball, baby! it is looking like we will have another talker!! that's four out of four who love to talk!!!

jaelyn is starting to stand on her on a little bit more. she has started taking a few steps here and there. but she is still a little unsure of the whole walking deal. which is ok with me! she does like to walk if you hold her hand or give her some light support. but on her own is a different story right now!

jaelyn likes to eat for the most part. she easily tries new things. sometimes she can be picky and throw things she doesn't want on the floor. she doesn't have a huge appetite right now. but i anticipate that will change. i think she may be working on some new teeth. and we are continuing to work on her manners, talking or signing instead of screaming for more! she still takes one bottle at night as part of her bedtime routine. i know she is over a year and my other babies were fully weaned at one. but i love the sweet time with her!

jaelyn continues to be a mommy's girl! but daddy sure does run a very close second!! and she is fascinated watching her big brothers and sister! she generally does not have seperation anxiety. she easily goes to most people, especially those she knows and loves! sometimes she will cry a little when i leave her in the church nursery, but i know she is in good hands and she will not cry long! they love on her in there!!!!

jaelyn is a busy girl!! for her first birthday she got the fisher price walker/baby stroller, which is in the picture below. she loves to push that around. we also have a big girl stroller that is jordyn's and she loves that too. she pushes them both around all over the house.

we have to keep all of the doors shut in our house, or she will escape and get into all kinds of things! i try really hard to keep our living room/dining room/kitchen (all one open area) as baby proofed and friendly for her. it is so hard with the big kids and all the little pieces to their toys and games. it gets really tiring keeping up with all of that. i have been trying to teach them, but they aren't so good about keeping those little things away from her. i get frustrated. but we will continue to work on that. anyone have any suggestions on what works for you? the big kids keep their toys in their rooms, but somehow end up in our main room way too often!

it's hard to believe that my baby is becoming a toddler! she is so sweet and i enjoy every single second of her! i could eat her up! everyday i look at her and hear her sweet voice i just melt and am reminded of how good God is! she is such a blessing to us!!!

roller coaster...

2009-12-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

i wouldn't describe this season of life as a journey, or even a walk, rather, i feel like i am on a roller coaster. this is how i have been describing my life as of late. this year has been a different season for me. i am in full force being a mom of four kids. sometimes i look at my kids and can not believe they are mine and that i have four of them. this year hasn't been full of any big changes. we have been kind of going along for the ride. we have had some ups and downs. my faith has definitely grown and i am learning more and more about who i am in Christ.

so this is why i don't feel like i have been just cruising along this journey. it's this feeling that i have that i haven't been able to describe other than to say, i just feel like something big is about to happen. kind of like that anticipation you feel as you are riding to the top of the hill when you are on a roller coaster, it is like you are chugging along kind of slowly, but in your head and in your stomach you just know that something big is going to happen

what is that something big? i don't know for sure.

on some roller coasters you reach the top of the hill and then quickly descend to the bottom, enjoying the ride but feeling like maybe life is passing you by. on some roller coasters you get to the top and then take a little jolt down and then you begin twisting and turning right and left side to side, not sure when and what the nest turn will bring. some roller coasters have a mix of all three, going up and then going down, and then going up again and then side to side.

for quite sometime i have felt the anticipation building as we have been making our way to the top yet we have no idea what to expect when we get there. is the ride going to be so wild that we are going to be dropped down hill so fast that we won't know what hit us. or is the ride going to be full of twist and turns and we won't know if we are going to ever get off.

there are two things that keeps me securely fastened in my seat and make me want to hold on as i am riding on this roller coaster not sure what to expect. the first is God. i know that He knows the plan He has for me. and the other is my husband, i am so fortunate to have a husband who takes the lead and holds my hand while we are riding on this roller coaster. he may not know what is coming at us next, but he stands in confidence of God's will for us and his faith keeps me feeling safe.

change in plans...

2009-12-06T11:53:00.004-05:00

i am home with the kids on a sunday morning which is so rare for us. i am flying solo today as i do most sundays, because jamil is at church doing his thing! jesiah woke up not feeling very good, i could tell first thing this morning that he was not himself. he barely ate breakfast and wrapped himself in a blanket. i gave him a bath in hopes that perhaps he would be ok and we could still go to church. by the time i got out of the shower he was still lying on the couch. this is the first clue that i knew we were not going to church. for jesiah to be still is not normal. usually he is bouncing off of the walls. so i took his temperature and it was over 101. and now he is sound asleep in his bed! so we are not going to share our germs today with anyone at elevation. and we had plans to get our tree this afternoon, but not sure if that will happen either.

i really don't like to miss church and i really wanted to get out of the house today. but i decided that i needed to find the positive in the change of plans instead of complain. my first instinct was to get really grumpy and throw a pity party for myself. but i canceled the party. and despite the fact that i am flying solo today, i decided to make it a good day.

i started the morning off by making a to do list of chores and such. i figured since i am home and we have a busy week coming up, i might as well get some things done. i have done a few things on the list and decided to sit down while two are sleeping, one is at grandma's house and one is busy on his nintendo ds. i thought i would do something i like to do for a little bit! one way to make the day positive! another positive is that i will be able to watch the worship experience at elevation online at 7:00 tonight! i love my church!!! i am so thankful that i will be able to still hear the message tonight!!

today, jaelyn is 14 months old. wow! i had a sweet little dress picked out for her today to wear to church. i think i will put it on her when she wakes up anyway and take some pictures for her special day!

we have had a busy weekend! on friday afternoon, our amazing babysitter, johanna, came to watch the kids so that i could run a few errands and jamil and i could go on a date night. we ate some yummy fried seafood at a place in charlotte called captain steve's! it was so good. johanna spent the night so that she could be with us on saturday. jamil had to work all day on saturday on a project. and he went straight from work to elevation for the night. it was wonderful to have johanna here. i was so glad we planned this with her! i was able to get the house decorated because of her amazing help with the kids. and the kids did several crafts too! i would never ever have been able to do all this and keep my sanity! and then last night we went to my parents house for dinner! it was a good day!

today will be a good day too even though our plans were changed and we may not go to get our tree. i will take care of my little guy so that he can get better. that is what is most important. he is suppose to have his first basketball practice tomorrow night. i hope he will be better so he can go!

happy, happy sunday to you!

going to the chapel...

2009-12-04T10:43:00.001-05:00

one of the other reasons that i just love this time of year is because jamil and i celebrate our wedding anniversary one week before christmas. and this year we will be celebrating our tenth anniversary! i am so excited about this huge milestone!

with our anniversary being so close to christmas, we usually don't do anything real big. i guess you could say that is one of the downfalls to getting married at christmas. but we had such a wonderful wedding day. it was perfect to have the season of christmas in the air while we were preparing for and enjoying this big day.

we got married in the church where jamil grew up and his family still attends. and then we had our reception at the dunhill hotel in uptown charlotte! we have some fabulous pictures from our special day especially with the christmas lights uptown! unfortunately, our pictures are all hard copies, we have none on cds or dvds ( i don't think this was around too much 10 years ago! if i can figure out a way to scan them and upload them, i will post them.)

anyway, as our big anniversary approaches i am going to do a few posts here and there about marriage! i plan to do that and also share with you some things i have learned and am continuing to learn through this wonderful 10 year journey. feel free to leave me a comment if there is anything you would like to read about in regards to our marriage/relationship. and if you have shared on your blog your story of your wedding day, let me know that too!

*photo taken by the beautiful mess!!

to uganda and back...

2009-12-02T20:16:00.002-05:00

on sunday, i heard one of the most life changing, most powerful, most amazing message. pastor steven preached his message while he, our lead staff and our video crew were in uganda.

one of our goals at elevation church is to reach our community. we want to make an impact such that if our church were to no longer exist, that the charlotte community would truly miss us and feel the effects of our absense. we give back to our community in so many ways. we partner with several outreach organizations by providing volunteer and monetary support. one outreach partner that i have spoken about on my blog, that is dear to my heart is called safe journey (through communities in schools). it is a fabulous outreach that is designed to keep teen moms in school. i volunteer on the lead team from elevation for safe journey.

elevation church is now taking our outreach globally. we are now proud partners with samaritan's purse. our staff traveled to africa with the samaritan's purse. while, in uganda, my pastor recorded the message that we would hear this past sunday. honestly, the video was done so well, that i felt like i was there with pastor and the rest of the staff. and his message was amazing. i was so glad that i had tucked several tissues into my purse!

this sermon was about our response to what we saw and heard about in the message. we can react with greed, guilt or generosity. it was powerful. what i saw and what i heard put so many things into perspective. i have never had a desire to travel to africa or be a part of a trip such as this. but now i do! my heart has been changed and i have a new outlook on my life and how i am living it! to see the people in uganda, to see their living conditions and to hear their stories, especially one about a four year old boy named james has forever changed how grateful i am. to see their passion for God in the midst of having virtually nothing is amazing!

honestly, this is an experience that you do not want to miss. this is a message that will really put things into perspective for this holiday season. you can watch the video here. or you can catch it live here through dec. 4 @ 12, 6 & 8 pm. please make time to do this! you will be forever changed!

**you can also read pastor steven's wife, holly's commentary on sunday's message here

wordless wednesday...

2009-12-02T19:39:00.002-05:00

it hurts me more

2009-12-01T04:24:00.001-05:00

on the last day of school before thanksgiving break, i received a phone call from joshua's teacher. she was calling to let me know that joshua was coming home with a note from her about some poor choices he had been making at school.

without going into full detail of the choices he made, i will just say that they all revolved around him not showing self control over his actions and words which led to being disrespectful. josh has been given the gift of making other people laugh and he will take that too far. he will also use his intelligence to say something that may make others feel less intelligent. neither are good things when a teacher is trying to teach a class full of kids and this interrupts that.

as a parent, i am never happy to receive a phone call or a note from our teachers about this kind of behavior. i expect my kids to demonstrate self control and respect towards others. all of the time! when they can not do this, and if the teacher has to take time out of her day to call me, i am not too happy about it! and neither is their daddy!

with it being a long weekend, i knew he had to have a lot of restrictions. he couldn't spend the five day weekend, living it up playing video games and watching tv. so he lost a lot of his privileges and had to do a lot of extra chores and work around the house. basically, he was my personal assistant. being a holiday weekend, i didn't want him to miss out on the family things we did. so we did allow him to have some fun but we kept it in perspective. i really wanted his punishment to make him think about his choices. knowing if he kept up this behavior, he would end up in the principal's office. none of us wanted that.

in addition to the restrictions and the extra chores, i created a notebook with special assignments in it. in the notebook, he had to write out five definitions of self control. he also had to read 10 bible scriptures i found having to do with self control. about 6 of those he had to write out five times each. he had to write one out on a card and memorize. then he had to write 10 sentences using the word self control. he also had to write a creative story about his character showing self control. and he had to write a letter to me and his dad and his teacher about his poor choices.

i must say that he worked really hard on this. i think that he was able to grasp the concept of what we wanted him to learn. i hope when he is at school and out around others this lesson will come back to him and the scriptures too! i have a really hard time with being consistent in my discipline techniques, but i think this one i will continue to use. i think learning about their poor behavior and learning about what God says about it is a great technique! it can't get any better than that!

on thanksgiving night we were at our friend's house and josh really wanted to have a sleepover with one of their boys. jamil and i had no problem with it. and we were about to say yes until we remembered that he was suppose to be "punished" this weekend. so we had to say no. it was such a hard thing for me to do. really hard. i wanted to say yes so bad. i love when my kids have the opportunity to cultivate friendships, but we had to say no. josh was sooo upset. i felt bad, but i know i was making the best choice for him.

it hurts to see my kids disappointment. it hurst so have to say no. it hurts to have to take away things they like to do. it is really hard. i know i have to be consistent because the last thing i want is to raise kids who are disrespectful and out of control.

i love to hear and learn about different and creative ways to discipline. { which reminds me, has anyone read creative corrections by lisa whelchel? that is a great book. i think i may have to pull that out again for this season of parenting!} so what about you, do you have any creative or effective discipline techniques? it's all about what works for you and your kids! please share what works for you!

on the last day of november....

2009-11-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

just a few thoughts on a few things along with some pictures we took this weekend!
i just picked out a few of my favorites!

today, jaelyn and i went shopping with my mom and grandmother. they wanted to get a few presents for the kiddos! fun!! we shopped til we dropped!!

ok, so i am thinking that if november has gone by as fast as it has, december is going to go by just as fast, probably faster. i can't believe that tomorrow is december 1st! we sat down the other night and went over the calendar for the month of december. oh my goodness. we have so much going on. it is going to be a busy month. we have plans for several nights a week on most weeks and a lot of stuff on the weekends. i know i am going to have to be strategic on getting things done to prevent last minute stress outs! and at this point we don't have room to say yes to many more things!

i also want to be sure that in all the busyness of the season, that i am very strategic that this season doesn't go by and we have let the true meaning of the season slip us by. i started reading what God wants for Christmas with my kids last night. it is a great story. if you haven't heard of it. it has a nativity set that goes with it. you can read it all in one sitting or spread it over a seven days, reading one story at a time. each segment of the story has a gift box that you open and inside of the boxes are pieces to the nativity. there are seven boxes to open and read. the first six are the pieces to the nativity. the seventh box is the very best box ~ it has a mirror inside and is the answer to the question...what does God want for christmas ~ look in the mirror it is you! my kids love doing this. honestly, i think they forget each year what is in the seventh box! you should check it out! i received mine a few years ago, when i was a mops coordinator, the book publisher sent it to me. you can go here.

we have a lot of big things going on in the life of elevation this month! i am so excited to be a part of what God is doing through our church. i know i say that a lot, but it is so true. i believe so much in our church and could go on and on about how amazing it is. our lead staff traveled to africa a few weeks ago and yesterday, pastor's sermon was prerecorded from uganda. it was a lifechanging and a powerful message. it has forever changed who i am. i will need a separate post on that! i am also excited to be taking on a new volunteer position. once all the details are worked out i will share more!!

wow, it was hard to get back in the groove today. last night, as i realized the weekend was ending, i got kind of (ok a lot) grumpy. it really hit me that thanksgiving was over and the reality of another holiday being over. and i was actually sad to see my kids go back to school. only three weeks and they will have a two and a half week break. i am really looking forward to it. we have a few fun things planned in addition to all the holiday celebrating!

i am looking forward to this sweet girl's reactions to all the christmas festivities and decorations. i think she is going to love all the new things she will get to experience. she did pretty well eating thanksgiving dinner with us! it was weird to think that this year last time, she was only a few weeks old and not eating any kind of food - just strictly nursing around the clock! and only a year later she was sitting at the table eating mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey! jaelyn has been sleeping like a champ (shhh...i have to be quiet bc i am afraid if she knows i have said it, she might stop again :) i am soooo thankful for long nights of sleep! although sometimes i really do miss those late night feedings when the house was so quiet and it was just her and i.

this week, josh starts basketball practice. he will be playing at the ymca, where he played soccer. and guess who his coach is....it's his daddy! best coach ever! they are both looking forward to it! we have some great friends who work at the ymca where they play. this is the first year we have played at this ymca, and they have a fantastic sports program! and guess what....

our friend, jamie, who worked for the ymca and who we know from elevation, wants this little guy to play on her basketball team! so we are thinking about letting him play too! jamil and i had to laugh thinking about little buddy playing basketball. he says he wants to play and i think he will have a blast. for sure he will guarantee to make those watching him laugh! he is just naturally funny, he doesn't even try to be and he is a hoot! i can only imagine him playing basketball! should be good times!!

so, there, just a few things on my mind tonight! hope that everyone had a great monday!

ready or not...

2009-11-29T14:55:00.001-05:00

....here it comes!

i am referring to the "c" word.
i know you guessed what it is
and it is probably on your mind too!

it's christmas

i love,love the christmas season! i just love everything about christmas. i love why we celebrate the season. i love the different traditions we have each year. and i love starting new traditions as the kids get older.

even though, i do wait until after thanksgiving to begin decorating and really preparing for the big holiday! i do begin thinking about it earlier than that. its on my mind, but i am not ready to do anything about it.

it is hard to believe it is that time already! we are almost at the end of november! so i can't put off christmas any longer! and that is ok, i am ready for it to come! i haven't gotten the christmas boxes down yet. but i will be working on cleaning and some decorating this week.

we start off our holiday tradition every year by getting our christmas tree. we get our tree the weekend after thanksgiving. this year, i have gone round and round on whether or not i wanted to get a tree and put it up and make it look beautifully perfect just to have my sweet busy baby pulling off all of the decorations. i thought of some different ideas that maybe we could do instead, but none of them felt right. so last minute, we decided we would get a tree and put it up next weekend. the bottom half may be a little bare, but i don't think it would feel like christmas without a tree!! did anyone else with a busy baby or toddler think twice on their decision?

even though the boxes have yet to be unpacked and the decorating has yet to be done. and i haven't even bought a gift. or put up the tree. i am not stressed. i am refusing to feel stress. and i don't want to see this season as a time for stress. i have been doing a lot of thinking about what i am going to truly celebrate this holiday season. and it doesn't have to do with buying lots of material things. it has nothing to do with spending money i don't have. it is going to have everything to do with how i live my life for the one who gave me life.

with that at the center of my mind this season, i can truly say...it is starting to feel a lot like christmas!

there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

ecclesiastes 3:1

a new perspective on thankfulness...

2009-11-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God."
Thessalonians 5:18

i have been overdue for a check up. and i am not talking about a medical kind of check up. but a check up on where my heart is. i admit, even though its hard, i have found myself in a not so good place. for some reason, despite the thanksgiving season, i have lost sight of what i am truly thankful for. it is really hard to write this. and to think of my blog post being out there with all of the other warm fuzzy posts filled with really sweet thanksgiving stuff. it makes me shudder. but i am going to be honest and share where my heart has been. i promise that this post is one that may start negative but does turn positive!

i have taken some time to be quiet and reflect this week. and with God's prompting, i gave myself a heart check. i found that so many things that i was struggling with, had taken over who i am. i lost sight of where my focus should be. i let my struggles become who i am. my focus has shifted onto myself. and i allowed it to happen. i allowed myself to think only about myself and how bad things seemed. i had become selfish and saw my struggles as so much bigger than what they really were. i was allowing them to determine my mood and who i was becoming. i was throwing myself one huge pity party. yuck!

just because things don't go my way or don't seem perfect in my sight, i shouldn't allow them to to dictate my mood or my feelings. they are struggles, they are not who i am. God gives us struggles in life so that we can overcome them and learn from them. He doesn't want them to overcome us. and that is what my struggles have been doing to me. they have overcome me. i have allowed them to take a stronghold over me. i have allowed them to take over and they have hidden my true joy and my grateful heart.

a lot of my struggles were with situations that i do not see as perfect or something i deserve. i had developed these self inflicted struggles. i allowed things that were imperfect to become a struggle. just because things didn't go the way i had planned, or the way i wanted, i saw them as a struggle. and instead of wrestling with the struggles, and overcoming them. i let them stay in my heart, making me feel defeated.

so, i began to look at the perspective i was taking with the things in my life...

my marriage.
my kids.
my friendships.
my church.
my finances.
my vehicle.
my home.

and i realized instead of being thankful for them, finding the good in what i do have, i looked at them and saw imperfection. and that is what became my struggle. i struggle with the need for things to be perfect. i was looking for perfection in all areas of my life. and it wasn't there. i began trying to fix all the things that were not perfect. and i realized there is not perfection in any one of those things. not one single thing i listed above is perfect.

what i did lose sight of is the one thing in my life who is perfect.

my God, my Lord, my Savior.

i lost perspective of Him. of who He is. i lost sight of all of things that i should be rejoicing in because of Him.

i lost perspective that He is in control of the good things and the not so good things in my life. i am not in control. He knows the plan He has for me and it will not harm me. somehow, i had forgotten that and took it upon myself to be in control.

so this thanksgiving season, with a newly repaired heart, i choose to be grateful to Him for everything in my life. God has given me so much and i am truly blessed.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Psalm 107:1

happy happy thanksgiving...

2009-11-25T16:14:00.003-05:00

from our family to yours!

(insert photo of us here!)

i hope that you have a wonderful thanksgiving day !
i hope you are able to rejoice in each and every thing that you are thankful for!

i have so many things to be thankful for!

1. my family & friends
2. the fact that i only had to make a few deserts and a casserole today
3. my mom is hosting thanksgiving dinner and i am not!
4. that my family is extremely healthy, i do not take this for granted.
5. that i live in the united states and for those who continue to fight for our freedom.
6. our church and church family
7. God's love that is never ending
8. a strong & healthy marriage
9. technology and how it makes life so easy
10. four great kids who teach me something new every single day!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 100:4

the days are just racing by...

2009-11-25T14:40:00.007-05:00

...and i feel so left behind!

i have these moments of panic, where i feel like the days are just racing by and i just can not catch up. i have come to realize that in a home with four kids, there is always something to do, something to clean up or put away. that does overwhelm me a lot. but i try to keep it in perspective, i realize it will never get completely done. and just as soon as the clothes are all washed, dried and put away. four little people will take off their clothes just before their baths and then i have another load that needs to be done. i have become ok with that. kind of.

what i have a hard time with, is i have all of these big ideas of things i want to do with my kids or for myself and they just don't get done. the daily workings of our home take so much time that there is barely time for anything else. i have lists of projects that need completed around the house. i have lists of crafts i want to do with the kids. i have different ideas for discipline or collecting allowance that i want to implement. i have thought of so many fun things to do throughout the holiday season. and so on and so on.... but these lists just collect in my head or are left on my list not checked off. when will i ever have time to do them?

i admit that i love the sense of accomplishment and get frustrated when i can't get things done. i just need more hours in the day!

and i wish the days would just slow down so i could take a breath and catch up to their pace. they are going by way too fast. and i can't keep up. as hard as i try, i am still running to catch up.

almost wordless wednesday...

2009-11-25T10:38:00.002-05:00

outside talking & playing...

inside watching & wishing...

i dont know what happened...

2009-11-24T12:33:00.002-05:00

i got on my laptop so i could write a few posts and hopefully get one posted today and have a few others saved to post over the next few days. and then i got really sidetracked and had to reply to some emails, some facebook messages, update my twitter and facebook status and creatd an evite for my ladies small group. and than just as i jumped on blogger, wouldn't you know it, jaelyn woke up from her nap crying. and that kind of cry said to me, she will not be content to be in her crib, come get me now!

so i am off to get my sweet baby girl and hope to be back soon! naptimes just go so quickly!!

hope you are all having a fabulous tuesday!!

this man...

2009-11-19T19:00:00.000-05:00

apparently, i am not the only one who is so thankful for this man!

our family is blessed beyond belief to have a
such an amazing spiritual leader!

this man is my rock
words can not begin to express who this man is to me!

and it kind of looks like
this man is their super hero,
don't ya think?

photography by the beautiful mess

the waiting room...

2009-11-16T20:41:00.003-05:00

after being sick with a cough and a cold for a few weeks, i decided it was time to go to the doctor's today. the yuckies just were not going away on their own. while i was in the waiting room, i sat in a corner away from everyone else in there. especially those patients wearing a mask. no way did i want to pick up any other kind of germs! i was lucky to be able to go without kiddos. my parents kept jesiah and jordyn while i went on my own. i certainly did not want to subject them to the germs.

as i was sitting in the corner all by myself, i sweet elderly man came over and sat right down next to me. and i mean in the chair right next to me. there were lots of other chairs and he chose the one beside me. at first, i got a little anxious thinking of his germs i might catch or perhaps giving him mine. as he sat down next to me, i noticed, he had a joel osteen book in his hand and a few pictures in a sandwhich bag. he began to share the pictures with me right away. while, i listened to him i turned my anxiousness into prayer. and asked God to bless me or let me be a blessing while i chatted with this sweet man.

he shared his pictures with me of his great grandchildren. he told me his wife was in with the doctor as was his daughter. the pictures were his daughter's grandchildren. the man was in great health and told me so many little stories while we sat together. he was full of history and even a few jokes. he put several smiles on my face. and i thought he was such a wonderful, Godly man. his daughter came out and said goodbye to him. he told her he met me and we were talking. she said, oh i bet you didn't get to say a word. she knew her father was a talker. but i really didn't mind and i told her that. she went on her way. we talked just a little more and then i was called back to see my doctor.

i truly enjoyed his company. and wondered why God had placed this man right next to me, in a waiting room full of other chairs. perhaps i will never know. but i do know was instead of checking my email or sending texts on my phone, or writing out my grocery list, or flipping through a magazine, i put all that stuff aside and just enjoyed conversation with a stranger. a sweet elderly man who had lots to tell and who definitely loved the Lord. i think i might have been the one who was blessed today!

(oh, and in case you were wondering, i have bronchitis - yuck! hopefully i will be good as new after a few days on the antibiotices!)

three little piggy tails...

2009-11-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

what happens when you take these three pretty girls...

jaelyn

merideth

mallory

and you add a brush along with some little tiny elastic bands....

you get three pretty girls with some really cute pigtails...

it is so fun to be a mom (and an aunt) to these three girls!!

merideth and mallory are my best friend amy's twin girls,
they are 18 months old today!!

here are a few more pics of jaelyn with her pigtail!!!

reminiscing...

2009-11-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

it's hard to believe that about a year ago,

jaelyn looked like this...

one month old

i think back to holding her when she was this tiny. it takes me to such a sweet time in my life. i loved every single minute of being her mommy. and i still do! the days look a little different caring for her today. and she is a little bit (ok a lot) bigger now. but one thing is the same, the days went by just as fast then they are now. i long to cherish and capture every moment with her. i beg time to slow down. babies just don't stay little long enough for me!

thirteen months old...

2009-11-12T08:59:00.003-05:00

my sweet baby girl is growing up so fast!
oh, if i could just get time to stand still...

so i could just love on her and eat her up
before she gets any older!

i am really enjoying this stage!

i do miss having a tiny baby around,

but it is so fun to watch her grow and learn new things!

she is communicating more and loves to play!!

jaelyn is one busy little girl.
she continues to be happy and so sweet!
she is starting to say more words and
she is trying to stand on her own a little more.
jaelyn is getting a little more daring by cruising
from one piece of furniture to another
and not holding on!

as for walking, she is quite content to crawl,
because she can get where she needs to go pretty fast!
and that is ok with me,
i know once she starts walking, life is really going to change!
i'm good with keeping her a baby just a little longer!!

it's wednesday already?

2009-11-11T13:48:00.004-05:00

i realized it has been nearly a week since my last post, wow, how did that happen? life is flying by like the leaves i am watching outside the windows. i have all four kids home today. and all of them are in their beds for quiet time! somehow they didn't get the memo that today was a holiday and there was no school, and that means they are suppose to sleep in, right?? not so much here.

for some reason, it was someone's crazy idea to have a holiday in the middle of the week. don't get me wrong, i think our veteran's need to be celebrated and i am thankful for them. but couldn't we have backed this vacation day up to a weekend, on like a monday or a friday?

its a cold and rainy wednesday and it does look like fall has reached the carolinas! there are leaves blowing all over and the ones still on the trees are pretty colorful. it hit me this week that it is almost mid november. the holidays are quickly approaching. not so sure if i am ready or not. are you?

today, amy came over with her three kiddos and we started on our yearly tradition of making ornaments with the kids. every year we do some kind of crafy ornament with the kids. this year we did them way early! they are not completed, but they are started. we are way ahead of the game this year. my goal is to have them done by thanksgiving!

it has been an eventful beginning to the week and the next two days are going to be busy too. i have a to do list a mile long and haven't really touched any of it. but there is always tomorrow.

for now, i think i will just curl up on the couch and take a nap!

how are you spending your wednesday?

day 1 - 5 : thanks & giving...

2009-11-05T11:10:00.000-05:00

i am participating in the 30 days of thanks & giving over at jeannette's blog!
i am going to post my thanks & giving every five days! so here are the first five days...
(you can click on the picture above to read about the experiment she is challenging us to do!)

day 1...
november 1, 2009

thanks
today is sunday and i can not help to be reminded how i am so very thankful for our church!
each and every time i think about elevation, i am so thankful that God has brought us to our church home. i consider it a true blessing to be a part of what God is doing in and through our church. i am amazed how He would chose us to be a part of this movement. He brought us to elevation two and a half years ago. we were so broken and God used every single aspect of elevation to heal us and to stretch and grow our faith in Him. i am so thankful for elevation church!!!

giving

with four kids it is hard to find time to spend individual quality time with each of them.
tonight, i carved out some time in our busy evening to make pumpkin bread with jordyn.
i gave her my time and some undivided attention.
just a little bit goes a long way!!

day 2...
november 2, 2009

thanks
this monday morning, i am so thankful that i am able to be a stay at home mom! it was something that my heart always desired to be. and when we were pregnant with our first child, jamil and i agreed that was what we wanted our family to look like. i have been blessed to be at home with my kids since the first baby was born 9 years ago. i truly feel it is what God has called and continues to call me to do!

giving
the way that i gave today goes along with exactly what i am thankful for. i love being a stay at home mom, but i will be honest and say that the days can get long and hard. jamil went from his work to church tonight to be with our pastor while he recorded a sermon. it was a long day for me, but i didn't complain. i was giving of my time by taking care of our family and our home.

day 3...
november 3, 2009

thanks

i am so thankful for my best friend, amy. amy and i have been friends since college, so almost 15 years. God has placed her strategically in my life. we talk on the phone atleast once a day. and sometimes for hours at a time! i am so thankful that God has given me a true friend who knows me and is there for me through all times!

giving

tonight, i invited my sister to have dinner & desert with us! she was away this weekend, so i wanted to hear how her trip was. i love when she comes over to eat with us!!! she actually is a blessing to me because she helps with the kids and getting them settled at dinnertime!!

day 4...
november 4, 2009

thanks
tonight i got to have a girl's night out with four special friends. i am so thankful for their friendship. we all went through a tremendous amount of pain, loss and betrayal within the same year of each other. i am so thankful that each of us are walking on the other side of that mess. i am so thankful we are healed from the pain and that God has been faithful to each of us and is showering blessings on us!

giving
jordyn spent a long time reading this afternoon. she did way past her daily assignment of 20 minutes. she is a fantastic reader! i gave her words of praise and encouragement today!

day 5...
november 5, 2009

thanks
i am giving thanks to God today for His provision over our family. He is an awesome God! He has begun to bless our finances in a way i couldn't have imagined. i am so thankful for His provision today.

giving
today, i will be giving my time and caring for my best friend's kiddos while she is at a doctor's appointment. i will be taking care of her 5 year old son and almost 18 month old twin girls
in addition to jesiah and jaelyn. i will have 5 kids and then at 2:30 my older two will be home and i will have 7 kids! it will be a fun day!

wordless wednesday...

2009-11-04T10:09:00.002-05:00

plan b...

2009-11-03T08:40:00.002-05:00

plan a...
one day last week our plans fell through. bummer. my friend, marybeth and i had planned to get together for coffee and pumpkin spice muffins (from dunkin donuts, ever had one? she loves them and i have never had one and dying to try one) but due to my cold and her daughter's cough we felt it was best to reschedule.

plan a...
it turned out to be a good day to be at home. it was overcast and rainy here. and it felt good to be at home! so i set out to conquer a few things on my to do list. only i chose to do something else that wasn't on the list. do you ever do that? (you can bet i will add it to the list just so i can cross it off ;)

my plasticware is stored in a cabinet underneath the island in my kitchen and it was a disaster, i could never find anything in there.

here is a peek:

what a mess, i know!

while i was thinking about how i could make this space a little more efficient and a lot less of a black hole full of plastic stuff. i remembered i had this out in the garage (empty):

i knew it would fit underneath, because i had used it there before to hold our collection of sippy cups and lids. so i retrieved it from the garage and began to organize my little heart out!!!

so this is what it looks like now:

so much better now!!!!

little miss busy playing with all of the odd pieces that i am going to get rid of!!

now. if i could just get this task completed!
remember that? well it looks even worse now,
and i would die before posting a picture of it!
it is still a work in progress and on the top of my to do list after all of these months!

lots & lots more halloween fun...

2009-11-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

our weekend was busy with halloween festivities. we kicked off our halloween weekend on thursday with a party at elevation. on friday night, we went to a party hosted by my friend kirsten, who did a fabulous job! her party was amazing, she had games and stations set up all over her backyard and in the garage. kirsten had tons of food and drinks. she did a fabulous job hosting 60 (yes, sixty!) people in her home. over half of those were kiddos...

we had such a fun time! thank you again kirsten for a fabulous time!

on saturday we carved our pumpkins that we got from the pumpkin patch...

don't they look pretty cute?
yes, the last pumpkin is an elevation symbol (^)

on saturday evening as jamil headed off to church, i got the kids dressed up again to go visit their grandparents. and then we went to amy's house for our annual trick or treating!! we had such a great time, despite the rain pouring down as we started to go out. but thankfully, (and after the kids said a prayer!) it slowed down enough for us to go out! you will notice three of my kids did a costume change!

my girls...

jordyn is sleeping beauty this go around!

our four girls together...

merideth (pirate girl) mallory (lady bug)

the boys...

jesiah (as batman this time)
will (g.i. joe)

josh (as an army man this time!)

wow, a busy but fun weekend. it is hard to believe october has come and gone and now it is time to prepare for thanksgiving, and dare i say.... christmas!

halloween @ elevation...

2009-10-31T08:01:00.005-04:00

on thursday afternoon, the kids got to dress up for a super fun halloween party "elevation style". we headed over to the church offices for a small gathering of the elevation staff and the armor bearer team and their families. there were lots of great costumes and really really cute kiddos! there were games set up for the kids to play and they won some fun prizes. then they got to "trick or treat" throughout the staff offices. there was a costume contest & yummy snacks.

my princesses, cinderella x2

my star wars guys, clone trooper & darth vader

some games...

jordyn and her friend, addison

cinderella and a sweet little tinkerbell

my pictures just don't do justice to what the elevation volunteer team had set up for us. i wish i would have taken pictures of so many more things, including the costume contest winner! it was such a festive and fun party!

a month of thanks & giving...

2009-10-30T07:25:00.001-04:00

my sweet bloggy friend jeanette posted today with an awesome experiment called "30 days of thanks and giving"! jeanette is challenging herself as well as others to participate in reflecting on the things we are thankful for and demonstrating a spirit of giving! it goes like this, each day throughout the month you should write down one thing that you are thankful for and demonstrate one act of giving.

jeanette is encouraging us to share the idea and get involved! what a fun idea that we can all do across the blogosphere!

you can go here to read her post with a full explanation. if you decide to join in on the fun, let me know!!

pumpkin patch...

2009-10-29T14:15:00.002-04:00

on sunday afternoon we took a little trip to riverbend farms.
what a fun little outing to do with the family.

little pilgrims!

it has been years since we have been there.
we took josh when he was one year old. and haven't been back since.
i am so glad we went back! we will definitely go again.

while we were waiting to take the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch,
we took a little tour around the farm.

while we were walking around,

we ran into two families that we know from church! so fun!
we rode the wagon with one of those sweet families.

this is little hannah, jaelyn loves her!
with her mom, rachael and dad, kenny
rachael and kenny are in our small group!

when we got to the pumpkin patch i gave the kids one rule.
they had to pick a pumpkin that they could carry.

there is no way jamil and i could carry their pumpkins
along with the baby and the diaper bag.

jordyn with her prize pumpkin!

look at my baby girl's face,
for some reason she was terrified to be put next to her pumpkin!!
i can only imagine how she is going to react to sitting on santa's lap this year!

after we got our pumpkins the kids had a fun time playing on the playground.

what a great family day!!!

wordless wednesday...

2009-10-28T07:30:00.003-04:00

pure joy...

2009-10-27T14:15:00.001-04:00

update: in a hurry i posted this before it was actually done and i had time to proof and give it the finishing touches... so i have those completed now! if you read the rough draft, please read this final copy too....

this past weekend we started a new series at elevation called "joy genome". wow! what a great sermon and what perfect timing! lately, i have been feeling a little lacking in the joy area. it isn't that i don't have joy in my life or feel joyful on the inside. there are so many things that bring me pure joy. but sometimes, ok, a lot of times, i allow those not so joyful things to overshadow the joy. so on the outside i may not look or feel joyful. i know the joy is there and i just have to let it outshine the not so joyful stuff. i don't want those circumstances to define who i am. i want the joy that is given to me through Christ to define and shine!!

pastor steven said this, it is a key statement to the sermon and to what i am taking away from it...

"My joy is not determined by what happens to me, but what Christ is doing in me and through me."

so i began the week with a new approach to joy! i want joy to explode from me and i want others to see it and i want to be able to really feel it. so i am going to let the good things outshine the bad things that happen every day. i consider those good things a reflection of who He is in me.

i had two moments yesterday where i was overwhelmed with joy! and it made me realize that i want to approach my life with daily reflections on the things that brought me joy and made me feel joyful.

so i am going to share two moments with you...

the first moment was in the parking lot of aldi's (do you shop there, if you don't you have to give it a try!) i was loading up my groceries, when i saw a lady parked next to me and she was wearing her baby in a sling. as she started heading toward the store, she turned back around to go back to her car, she got a floppy seat out of her car and took her baby out of the sling and put him into the cart. i thought to myself, how she reminded me of myself. i often have to figure out if wearing the baby or pushing the baby will work better. sometimes i change my mind and do what she did. as she walked by me, i said something to her about that and then we began chatting. her 6 month old was a sweet chubby baby and she said that she just couldn't get him to fit well in her sling (she was wearing him across her body cuddled up). so i shared with her two different ways she could wear her baby (on her hip and sitting up facing out) in her sling. i loved being able to offer that kind of support to her. i could tell she was encouraged by learning something new! it gave me pure joy to do this for her. it reminded me of the passion that God has put inside of me and how much i love encouraging and supporting other women, especially moms!!!

the second moment was when i was walking into the second grocery store (lowes foods, just opened near our house!) i went to. i put jesiah and jaelyn in a little cart that looked like a car. they were so excited. and just that little simple moment gave me pure joy to look at my kids and be reminded of what a blessing they are to me. it reminded me of a time when i had joshua and jordyn out and about and they were close to the same age as jesiah and jaelyn are. and it made me think about how i have two wonderful big kids in school and i still have two wonderful little kids at home with me. God knows my heart and knows my love for babies and little kids and he has given me four of them!!! i feel so blessed. to be a mom of four kids all in different stages and ages. they keep me so busy and my hands are so full, but i am blessed and they bring me pure joy!!!

what things bring you joy in your life??

if you need a little joy in your life today or need a little reminder about joy...you can hear my amazing pastor preach a great word here!